Fate Lost Light
by terriwrit1301
Summary: In this Kuoh city there is a secret war between people for the holy grail. Dragged into such a life and death situation Issei will have to try everything to stay alive. And maybe wins something out of it.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

 **Chap 1**

In class 2-3 there was a boy who was lying on his desk with his head face down.

"When will they release the next installment for Queens of Boobs 2?" Issei complained.

"Never ever." Motohama said.

"You do know that the first game is a flop right? They won't do the second one." Matsuda added in.

"But I want a sequel! They put in a tease for a harem end then decide not to do a sequel!?" Issei shouted.

Issei was a fan of Queens of Boobs which was the first eroge he played when he stepped into the otaku world. Even though it wasn't a bad game it was mediocre to many people. Issei was one of the few people who liked and enjoyed the game. He had been waiting for the sequel but it never came out. The company had no intention to do it from the source he got. Issei was depressed when he learned about that news and the only thing he could do was to complain about it to his only 'friends' who happened to be shameless in discussing eroge right in the class.

When school was over Issei ran home. He wanted to buy more h games. He had saved up quite a bit but if he bought the game now he might not have enough for some special edition releases in the near future. Those two friends of him probably would buy them though. Issei also wanted to discuss the new games with his friends yet it might be better to just borrow the games from his friends and save his hard earned allowance for other important releases.

"I'm home mom!"

"Issei! We're out of milk. Go to the supermarket and get some!"

"Did you forget to buy some when you went to the market today mom?"

"Yes, now go quickly and return before dinner." Mrs Hyodo gave him some money.

Issei nodded to his mom, still in his uniform. He rode his bicycle to the local supermarket. It was a fast trip but Issei wanted to check out the new stuffs in the local video game shop. He knew he probably wouldn't buy anything but still he wanted to check them out. When he arrived at the local video game shop there was no one but the shopkeeper and another man who was looking through the shelves. The other customer was a foreigner. Since Issei didn't care much about that he immediately went straight to the h games section.

"Hm…" There was no new game. Perhaps the shopkeeper hadn't put on the new releases?

Since Issei had no intention to buy he didn't want to ask the shopkeeper either. He just silently walked out the shop then rode on his bicycle back home. But he didn't get too far before something hit him on the back of his neck.

When Issei woke up he was in a dark room. The only light source was the little light bulb which wasn't that bright. It was hard to see things around. Issei himself was tied by a rope, he couldn't move around.

"What's happening?" He tried to look around but still he couldn't figure out where he was. The last thing he remembered was that he was on his way back home after he had bought milk and checked out the video game shop. From the look outside the window it had been a hour or so. Issei seriously thought he had been kidnapped but he had no idea why people would want to kidnap him. He didn't have much money on his body, his mom certainly didn't give him more than what he needed to buy the milk. Just when he was about to see if he could loosen the rope a figure entered the room.

"You are…" But he couldn't finish his sentence. The robed figure pulled out a knife and stab his arm.

"Ouch!" Blood began to drip out of his arm. The culprit left the knife there and began to chant something that he could understand. He knew it wasn't English, what Issei cared the most now was how to get away from this crazy guy. Then the floor beneath him started to glow. Something of circle with strange characters was drawn and only now that Issei became aware of it.

"What are you-" Then something appeared in the middle of the circle. It was a tall armored figure. On its right hand was a sword… Sword? Spear? Drill? Issei had no idea what it was but from the look of it he knew it was some kind of weapon. He then felt a burning sensation on the back of his left hand. Issei clenched his teeth. The burn on his left hand was more than the numbed wound on his arm. He tried to endure the pain to see what was happening on his hand.

"What the hell…" It was a mark. On the back of his hand there was red strange mark that looks like tattoo. He had no idea what that was. When his kidnapper saw the mark he shouted out something. Again Issei couldn't understand what that guy was talking about. At the same time when the armored figure saw the mark on his hand it raised its weapon slightly. The kidnapper immediately headed straight to Issei, he pulled out the knife on his arm and tried to slash him but before he could do it the armored figure stopped him with its weapon. The armored figure was strong, a single backslap was enough to send the kidnapper across the room.

The knife was flung far away, the kidnapper couldn't retrieve it fast enough. The kidnapper then escaped the room hastily. The armored figure talked to Issei in Japanese.

"Do you want me to pursue and put an end to him master?"

"What… Master?"

He couldn't understand what just happened. Issei had no clue what happened at all. All he knew was that he was bleeding and if he didn't stop it his life would be in danger.

"For now can you at least help me out? Can you cut the rope?"

"... I see. Letting the enemy espace might be a bad idea but your safety is far more important." The rope was easily cut. The armored figure then tore out a part of his shirt to bandage the wound. "This will do for now." Only now that Issei realized the armored figure had a voice of a young woman. There was too many questions he would like to ask but Issei felt tired mentally and physically. Since this armored figure had saved him and he had no idea when that kidnapper would return to finish the job (of killing him) so it was better to have this armored figure to accompany him. Even though he had no idea who was this woman and how she appeared. The wound on his arm forced him to do what he needed to so he could take a rest.

"Thanks... I want to go home. Can you er follow me? I don't know when that guy will appear again." Issei nervously asked.

"Why are you asking me this master? I am your servant. My duty is to protect you from harm. Of course I will follow you master."

"Okay… How do I call you anyway?" He wanted to know the name of the woman who saved him before anything.

"Servant Lancer, at your command master."

Lancer? Foreigner sure had strange name. Again with that master and servant thing. Issei determined to find out what the hell it was when he was back at home.

"I'd like to use my steed to carry us home but for some reasons I can't summon it. Master if you have trouble walking I will carry you."

"N-No need for that. I can walk by myself." It would be too embarrassed to be carried by a woman. Issei didn't want to show his uncool side to this woman. With the help of Lancer he walked out the room and down.

"Oh?" There was a bag on the way when Issei and Lancer went downstair. Inside was some video game boxes. So that kidnapper was the same guy he met in the video game shop. These video games were on the current trend. Looked like this guy's objective wasn't buying games after all.

"Might as well…" He also recovered the milk from the supermarket. Since Issei was wounded he couldn't ride the bicycle properly. However Lancer could easily ride on it. It was a strange sight. A tall armored figure on the front seat pedalling with Issei behind. Still he didn't complain. Lancer was strong and fast. Very fast. Within a few minutes they arrived at Issei's home.

"Hey Lancer can you wait here for a bit?" Bringing another person home was a problem, moreso when it was a tall woman in full armor.

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to be separated master. I am your lance and shield. If you don't want anyone else to see me then I will enter my spirit form." Lancer then became invisible. With that Issei removed his bandage and put on his jacket so his wound wouldn't be visible. He didn't want his parents to worry about it. When he entered the house he got lectured by his parents for returning late. Fortunately they saw the bag he was carrying and assumed that he went out his way to buy video games so they weren't too suspicious about what he actually had done. The games were confistraced and Issei was banned from using his console though. When thing settled down Issei finally had a chance to rest. He could vaguely feel the presence of Lancer close to him. If she couldn't enter this spirit form then it would be a lot more harder to explain to his parents.

"Rest well master. I will watch over you."

"Thank you Lancer."

And then he fell into sleep. There were so many things Issei couldn't understand yet he ignored them for a moment. Lancer was still in her armor. Issei hoped she was a beauty. He would definitely find out the next day along with whatever the master and servant thing.

* * *

 **AN: Feel free to guess who's Lancer and who are the other masters along with their servants.**


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

 **Chap 2**

"...up."

There was someone calling for him but Issei felt tired. He wanted to continue to sleep.

"...wake up master."

There was that sound again but this time something shook his arm.

"Umm…"

"Please wake up master."

Issei opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Golden hair and emerald green eyes adored her face very well. This wasn't the same beauty as Issei saw on TV or magazine. This woman was divine itself, as if the concept of beauty had manifested in a human form before him.

"Please be my girlfriend." It was the only thing he could mutter when her beauty captured his heart.

"Master? You are not up yet? Is your arm still hurt?" She replied with worry in her voice.

Issei shook his head violently. When he opened his eyes again she was still here with him. So what happened yesterday wasn't a dream at all. When he noticed her silver white armor he knew it was the same woman who saved him last night.

"Lancer, you are Lancer."

"Yes master, it's me Lancer. You are surprised to see me like this? Is there something wrong with my face?"

"N-No, nothing's wrong." Issei blushed. He tried to keep his cool before Lancer.

"Right. It's already morning, please get up and wash your face. I have important information to tell you master."

Issei nodded. His arm was a little numb. Thankfully the knife was small so the wound wasn't too big. He could use bandage and wear a jacket to hide it from his parents and classmates as long as he was careful with it. After he was done he realized that he was up 30 minutes earlier than usual. Well since Lancer wanted to talk to him it shouldn't be a problem. He quickly returned to his room to see what Lancer wanted to talk about.

"Master, before we talk about the important details there's something I want to confirm first. Do you know what is a Holy Grail War master?"

Issei raised his eyebrows. Holy Grail War?

"No sorry, I have no idea what it is."

"As expected." Lancer nodded her head. "I have thought about the possibility that you're an innocent who got dragged into this with your display last night."

"Yeah, I was kidnapped by that foreigner guy. I still have no idea what's this all about. Ah could you please explain the whole master and servant thing? My name is Issei, Issei Hyodo. You can call me Issei." Issei didn't have a problem with Lancer calling him master but he wanted to know why she called him her master.

"About that…" Lancer closed her eyes for a moment. "Very well, if it is your wish I will call you Issei. Now I shall explain it to you but it might take some time for a normal person like you to understand. I am a Servant and you are my Master. Through the contract on your left hand we are bound together to fight against other masters and servants in this war to win the Holy Grail."

"Fighting against other masters and servants… The Holy Grail… It's a wish granting artifact just like the legend?"

"Yes. Now Issei as you known I am your Servant. A servant is a Heroic Spirit summoned from the Throne of Heroes into a containment called Class. My class is Lancer. Generally there are seven classes in a holy grail war. They are Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Berserker and Assassin. You should be able to figure out what's the difference between the classes based on their names. There are many heroic spirits and you can try to summon the one you want or narrow the pool down by using catalysts. The mage who kidnapped you was using you as a catalyst to summon a servant for himself."

"Okay…" Issei could somewhat understand the meaning of those non-Japanese words but he wasn't entirely sure. He would need to check on the dictionary later. "So we have to fight people who enter contracts with heroic spirits if we want to win this war. Can we not fight? I mean, if the holy grail can grant wish then why don't we just share?"

"It doesn't work like that Issei. The grail will only grant wish to one master and one servant. That's the rule. Anyway that's the basic you need to know." Lancer explained.

Issei nodded, still a bit overwhelming by what he just learned. Lancer didn't say anything, she sat there silently. After some minutes of thinking Issei said:

"So you know, about this war… You know I'm just a normal student. I don't know how to fight or use magic or something like that. You said that people enter the holy grail war so they can win the grail for themselves. I'm not sure what I can do to help you win the holy grail Lancer."

"Rest assured Issei. Indeed I have a wish to make but your life is more important than that. You can choose to participate in the war or not. If it is your wish I won't participate in this war but I will continue to protect you until the end." Lancer gently answered Issei.

"That is, I mean, I'm powerless you know. Can this contract be canceled? If you can do that I think it's better to find a capable master so you can fight for yourself. I… I don't think I'm suitable to be your master." Issei scratched the back of his head.

"Master, do you think you will be safe when I'm not with you?" There was a change in her voice.

"Eh?"

"The culprit who kidnapped you is still out there Issei. There's no way to know if he continues to target you or not. You have an admirable heart. There are few people in this world who can resist the chance to gain a wish from the holy grail but you must understand that there's no return when you make contact with this supernatural world Issei. Besides I have pledged my spear to you. If I am to cancel our contract my knight's honor will be tainted. Or you are looking down on me? You don't think that I am eligible to be your servant?" Lancer straightly said.

"No! I mean yes, I can't be happier with you as my servant!"

"Good, then it is done. Today I swear to become your knight. I shall fight and protect you until my last breath." Lancer kneed down in front of Issei with her head bowed.

"Thanks for staying with me Lancer. I appreciate that." Issei too bowed down to her.

"One more thing Issei. Since heroic spirit is usually a famous figure in the past they will have their strength and weakness when summoned. If you know about a certain heroic spirit then you can guess their weakness or exploit their habits. I have my true name as a heroic spirit but since you're just a normal person it's better not to tell you my true name. If our enemies can perform mind reading magecraft and find out my true name then I will be put into disadvantage. I won't be able to serve you well."

"I see." Issei didn't realize there was a problem like this one now that Lancer mentioned it. Still he was glad that he had such a beautiful woman to stay with him for the time being.

"Oh it's time for me to go to school." Issei said after looking at the clock.

"There are more things I need to tell you but fine, I will accompany you in my spirit form. When you're free let us continue." Lancer then became invisible. Issei was sure that she would follow him anywhere he went.

What troubled Issei was how he had to hide his wound. He had to watch out for the people who passed by so they wouldn't accidentally touch his left arm. Fortunately he knew Motohama and Matsuda gonna slap on his shoulders so it wasn't too hard to avoid them. The mark on the back of his left hand was hidden under white bandage to avoid attraction. School was normal, nothing extraordinary happened so far. When it was lunch time Issei headed to the rooftop so he could talk to Lancer. It's a good thing that Lancer didn't have to cancel her spirit form to talk to Issei.

"Issei, there are three things I want tell you. First the mark on your left hand is the command spell. Command spell is a powerful magecraft that allows you to create a 'miracle'. As the name suggests command spell is used to order servant. When you're in danger please use it to so I can save you."

"Okay, there are 3 marks so I can only use it 3 times?"

"Correct. But never use it more than 3 times because it will dissolve the contract between us. Command spells are vital resources in a holy grail war, you should learn how to use it at the right time. The second thing is I have become… less than what I should be. For some reasons I can't summon my steed. My strength, endurance, agility and mana all have a rank down. I haven't tested out my Noble Phantasm but without doubt it is affected too. I'm confident with my skills but if it's possible we shouldn't engage multiple opponents at the same time."

Lancer had become weaker than usual? That surprised Issei. He recalled that she could deal with the kidnapper easily. For a second Issei wondered how strong Lancer could have been and how strong their opponents would be.

"It can't be helped. Since you're not a proper mage you don't have enough mana to support me. It will be tough but as your knight I shall not allow anyone to harm you."

Issei once again felt upset that he wasn't any help to Lancer. He knew their priority right now was to survive but still if he had magical power or things like that he would be able to be a useful master to Lancer.

"The third thing is that I have sensed magical presence within the school. If my hunch is right we are inside the territory of a mage. I can defeat mages without any trouble but if they are also masters like you then it could be a problem. This might sound overprotective but you should stop coming to school until the war is over."

"That…" Issei was shocked to hear it from Lancer. Her words made sense for sure. However not going to school was a big problem for Issei. He had no clue how long this war could be. Even if he was absent for a few days his classmates, teachers and parents would learn about it. This didn't sound good to him.

"Issei?"

"It won't be easy to just skip school. I don't know what to tell my parents if they find out." Issei shook his head.

"In that case what we should do is to figure out who's the mage then we will make our next move." Issei nodded to Lancer's words. "However we should prepare ourselves. Let's continue this once we return home."

"Preparation?"

"Yes, you might not be a mage but we can try some other methods to increase your survival chance."

The bell rang just when Issei returned to his classroom. He was pondering on Lancer's words. Was there anything he could do to help her? He wasn't an athletic person. He knew nothing about martial art or street fighting. The opponents he would face knew magic and likely trained in combat. Furthermore their servants were fully powered. Issei imagined it would take a lot more to beat them if they were as strong as Lancer. Also Lanced mentioned that foreigner guy was planning to summon a servant by using him as a catalyst. It made Issei felt unease if every other master was that ruthless. That guy just boldly kidnapped him like that, who knew what they could do to ensure victory?

"Hah, it is no good."

Issei decided to focus on class for a moment. Lancer said that they could prepare. Issei completely placed his trust on her. It would be fine as long as they came out of this war safe and sound. He hoped the war would end quickly so he could spend time with the beautiful Lancer.

When school was over Issei headed for his bicycle in hurry. He knew Lancer would be with him yet he wanted to return home as fast as he could.

"Issei."

"Yes?"

"Who is that girl?" Even though Lancer was invisible Issei knew who she was asking about.

"That's Akeno Himejima. She is the most beautiful girl of this school."

Indeed Akeno Himejima was the idol of Kuoh academy. She was the perfect Japanese young lady that anyone could see with a single look. Akeno was a year older than Issei. When he entered the school most of the males in his class had started to talk about her. It didn't surprise Issei when he saw Akeno for the first time. She definitely fitted to be the elder sister of everyone with her grace and caring personality.

"If my sense is correct then that girl is a mage. You have to be careful around her Issei." Lancer warned him.

Issei's eyes widened at Lancer's words. Akeno Himejima was a mage? He couldn't believe it.

"To think that the most popular girl in this school hides such a secret." Issei didn't know what to do so he quickly jumped on his bicycle to head home. Lancer ran along with him. She was much faster than Issei's pedaling speed so she didn't sit on the backseat even though Issei would prefer that way.

When they arrived home Issei planned to bring her dinner but Lancer said there was no need since she didn't have to consume food like normal people. What she needed was mana and the grail would provide it for her. After his homework was done they began on their preparation.

"You know Lancer, can't you teach me magic?" Issei asked. Since Lancer was likely a legendary warrior in the past she should know magic.

"Unfortunately I can't teach you magic. There was a mage who helped me when I was alive but I didn't learn magic from him." Lancer shook her head.

"Ack." One option got shot down.

"Still there's one thing I want to try. Issei do you know what's a Sacred Gear?"

Issei shook his head.

"Sacred Gear is a magical artifact made by a very powerful being. Every human can house one inside them potentially. There are many kinds of Sacred Gear and some of them are great for combat or defense. If by chance you have a Sacred Gear within your body we can use it to increase your survival chance."

"Cool." Issei nodded. This was starting to sound good. If Issei had this Sacred Gear then he could help Lancer and perhaps become stronger by his own.

"It would be nice if we have a larger place but this will do for now." Lancer summoned her weapon. Now that Issei had a closer look it was definitely a lance, the one that he usually saw on a knight. Lancer's lance looked like it was made of many layers of long flat metal bands twisted around together. The tip wasn't sharp though. Lancer held the lance with her hand and pointed it at Issei.

"Lancer?"

"Sacred Gear can be activated through traumatic experience. This was how some of my soldiers awoke theirs." Lancer entered a fighting stance.

"I will really die if you hit me with it!" Issei backed away from Lancer but his room was small so he was still close to her.

"Don't worry Issei. This is the fastest way to see if you have a Sacred Gear or not. I promise you will be safe." All Issei could hear was a serious tone in her voice. Lancer was definitely going to hit him hard! Even if she held back her strength was more than anyone he knew!

"Now, defend yourself master!"

Before he could see Lancer's move Issei was flung back and crashed his back into the wall.

"Issei? Something's wrong?" He could hear his mother's voice.

"N-Nothing's wrong mom…"

"Are you alright Issei?" Lancer came over to help him up.

"I… I'm fine…"

"I was planning to let you block my lance with your hands but I just remember that your arm hasn't recovered yet. Sorry." Lancer bowed down her head in embarrassment. "Looks like we can't try it for now."

"Y-Yeah." Issei held the pain in his voice. Lancer hit him like a car but he couldn't show her that. Issei knew Lancer only wanted to help him so he didn't want to make her worry too much about his well being. As the harem king he had to act cool before a beauty like Lancer! Still he wouldn't want take another hit from her soon.

"I wonder if such a method actually works…"

"It works! I saw my soldiers gain Sacred Gear this way!" Lancer insisted.

"Okay okay but is there any other method? Something's less violent you know?"

"Um…" Lancer closed her eyes for a moment. "Sorry but I don't know. I think my mage had knowledge on that but he didn't tell me. Of course not everyone has Sacred Gear so if you don't have one it would be no good if I continue to hit you."

"Is that so…" He would be very sad if he really didn't have a Sacred Gear.

With Issei on the bed there was little they could do. Before the room became awkward Issei decided to change the topic.

"Lancer can I ask you what's your wish?"

"My wish… I wish that I could have done it differently for my people." Lancer's eyes looked away as if she were staring at the horizon. It made Issei curious about who she really was and what made her wish for something like that.

"What about you Issei? What is your wish if you decide to join the war?" Lancer turned it back on him.

"Of course I will wish for a harem!" He exclaimed.

"Excuse me?"

"I want a harem full of beautiful girls who will pamper me everyday! If I win the grail I will make that dream come true!" Issei proudly told Lancer.

Lancer stared at Issei with an unreadable expression. She looked like she wanted to say something but decided not to. "To think my master has such a wish…"

"Something's wrong with it?"

"No nothing. You should rest Issei. When you become better we will continue."

"O-Okay." He knew he had to take the inevitable hit from Lancer again but he should be safe until his arm was healed. Then again he wouldn't want to fight or run away from anyone in this wounded state. Tired with too many things to think about Issei tried his best to sleep.

All he could see was black yet from the distance there was something. Issei tried to step closer to see what it was in this floaty space. That something was an orb of red light. Issei's hands extended, he tried to catch the red orb but he couldn't. He continued to chase the red orb.

"Wake up Issei."

The red orb suddenly became a red giant. It wasn't a human. Issei felt like he should know what the red orb had become but he couldn't figure out what it was. He tried to observe it. He took in as many details as he could to understand what it was.

"Issei."

"Eh?" Issei opened his eyes only to shut them tight then reopened them. It was Lancer who woke him up again this morning. "Thanks Lancer." His left arm was a bit better but still he would rather sleep for a little more. Issei went ahead with his daily schedules. School was slow so Issei could take it easy. Lancer was always close to him. When he had class she stood behind as if she were his parent.

When it was lunch time Issei came to the rooftop, he had Lancer teach him everything he should know about the holy grail war, every little thing should be helpful to someone like him.

"I see. Noble Phantasm is the trump card of every servants that will decide the battle but you have to release the true name to activate it. It's possible for the hostile masters or servants to learn about the name of your Noble Phantasm and find out who you really are."

Lancer nodded at his words. "That's why it's better to save my Noble Phantasm until it becomes absolutely necessary to release its true name."

Issei took a bite at his yakisoba bread. "But your stats are reduced so isn't better to finish the fight quick?"

"Yes, a prolonged fight against a servant with higher stats will likely result in my defeat. I will have no trouble if it is a one-on-one fight. However if there are other servants who scout on my battles then we will be put into a bad position if we have to face them the next time." Lancer said.

"Hah." Issei sighed. This wasn't looking good for them. Fortunately his priority was to survive the war so if the situation come to the worst he would hole up somewhere for months. He was sure Lancer would go far to protect him but if it was possible he wouldn't want her to get hurt because of him.

"Issei, there's something I want to ask you something. What is it that you are eating?"

"Oh this? It's bread with fried noodle inside. Do you want some?"

"I… no it's fine. You need all the nutrition to heal your left arm." Issei imagined that Lancer was shaking her head.

"Hey I can buy you one afterschool. Don't worry about it." Issei hadn't done anything to pay back Lancer after she saved him. She was indeed a beautiful woman and Issei didn't have any experience on how to treat them right. He doubted his stacks of porn actually taught him any useful tips so if Lancer was interested in yakisoba bread Issei would make sure to get her one. When lunch time was done he went back to his classroom, Motohama was the one to call him over.

"Do you have it with you?"

"Have what?"

"The ER-088 special edition. I told you I would only lend it to you for three days. It's time to return it to me Issei."

Oh shit.

"I eh… I forgot about that. Sorry."

"Are you serious!? Tomorrow is weekend and I want to spend all day long in my room with that DVD!" Motohama shouted.

"Look when school's over I will go home and get it for you alright?" Issei had completely forgot about it and he doubted with Lancer around he would have a chance to enjoy the porno DVD.

"You better do it fast." Motohama angrily said.

But now Issei had a reason to go out after school. He told his parents he needed to return something that was 'important for education' to his friends. It was tough to grab the disk with box art when Lancer was right there behind him but Issei managed to hide it from her. Fortunately Lancer wasn't a person from this age so she didn't know what's that thing his friend wanted from him. She just followed Issei everywhere to watch over him. When he was done with Motohama they headed to the convenient store for yakisoba.

"Yes, I will have these please."

Now they could head home. Issei decided to eat dinner less so he could have yakisoba bread together with Lancer in his room.

"Huh?"

There was a strange scene when Issei reached the park. Currently there was a nun who kneed down in front of a young boy. When he came closer he saw green light from her hands which made the bruise on the boy's leg disappear. The mother of the boy called him back and told him not to come close to the nun but before they went away the boy said thank you to her. Confused by what the nun just did Issei stood there like an idiot.

"Issei, it is possible that she is a mage." Lancer whispered.

Issei immediately stepped back and fell with his left arm on the ground.

"Ugh!" He grabbed his left arm to try to mitigate the pain.

The nun turned around. She was a blond foreigner with green eyes. There was nothing but innocence on her face as she approached Issei.

"Are you hurt? I can heal you." She said in English which Issei barely understood. The nun came closer and extended her hands toward his left warm. From her hands there was warm green light and while Issei was dumbfounded he gradually found out his left arm was no longer in pain. He rolled up his sleeve to check only to see his wound had disappeared.

"Thank you." He replied in English. So she was healing the bruise on that boy earlier.

"You welcome." She smiled. The nun then left to grab her luggage.

"He said 'Thank you'."

"Eh?"

"The boy." Issei made a gesture and pointed at his leg. "He said 'Thank you'."

It took her a few minutes but the nun finally understood and thanked Issei for telling her. Too bad if he was better at English he could talk to her more. Issei quickly searched through his grocery bag and rushed to the girl to give her his share of yakisoba bread. She was surprised but nonetheless she didn't reject his offer. It seemed like she hadn't had anything for lunch. When the nun had finally gone Lancer talked to him.

"She didn't have any malicious intention. That girl is as pure as a flower, that's why I didn't interfere when she came close to you."

Issei nodded. "So was that magic? The healing stuff she did."

"It could be. What I wonder is why she used it on civilians. Mages usually don't show off their magecraft because it is not normal in people's eyes. She could be isolated because of what she could do."

"Perhaps she just wants to help others." Issei said. He then climbed on his bicycle to return home.

Finally it was time for Lancer to have that yakisoba bread. Even though Issei had given his to that nun he didn't feel sad at all. Lancer manifested her physical form. She had some trouble trying to open the nylon warp but with Issei's instruction Lancer took her first bite.

"Hm."

"How is it? Is it good?" Issei asked.

"Yes, the taste is exotic for me. I didn't have anything like this when I was alive." Lancer quickly ate the whole yakisoba bread. When she was done Issei couldn't help but felt like she wanted more.

"Should I buy more for you the next time?"

"...it is delicious-eh? Ah no need Issei, I am your knight and servant. You don't have to waste your resources on me while the grail can give all I need." Lancer brushed it off yet Issei had decided to treat her once more. In the past people usually didn't have nice food like today right? He definitely had to make sure to take Lancer out for a restaurant.

"Issei, now that your arm is healed we can test out to see if you got a Sacred Gear. Tomorrow is weekend and you don't have to attend school correct?" Lancer reminded him.

Crap.

* * *

 **AN: Feel free to guess who are the other masters and servants.**


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

 **Chap 3**

It was the very same red orb he saw the night before. The blurred red light continued to appear in his dream. Issei ran toward the red orb as it became bigger and bigger until the red orb turned into a giant figure. Issei recognized it wasn't a human, he knew it definitely wasn't a human. He also knew that he should recognize what that red orb actually was but for the moment he couldn't. He searched through his broken memory inside the dream. He tried to fit all sort of images that red giant could be but he couldn't reach any conclusion other than 'It is a monster.'

Issei opened his eyes. The dimmed ray of light could be seen inside his room. Issei got up, he glanced at the corner of the room. He could vaguely feel Lancer who was sitting there. He wondered if she also slept just like him. Even though she said she was a familiar Issei couldn't help but feel the need to treat her like any normal human, more so when she was such a beautiful and strong woman.

"Good morning Issei."

Oh so she wasn't sleeping at all.

"Good morning." Issei returned her greeting. He wasn't really used to be sleeping in the same room with a young woman. He lightly tapped on his alarm clock to shut it down before it rang. When Issei was about to go downstair for his breakfast he turned back to Lancer.

"Would you like some food?" He asked.

"No Issei. I already said that you don't have to waste your resources on me." Lancer rejected.

"But last night-"

"Master." Issei could hear the serious tone in her reply. He gave up and headed for the bathroom.

He would need to find another chance. Issei silently left for breakfast. Since his wound was healed he didn't have to hide the spot on his left arm anymore. While he was eating Issei thought about Lancer. Would she prefer western food to Japanese food? He had no doubt that Lancer was a foreigner so it made sense if she enjoyed western food more then again she might like to try Japanese food because it was new to someone like her. After breakfast he returned to his room with two cups of tea. Even if Lancer didn't want to eat perhaps she would like some morning tea.

As Issei expected, Lancer didn't decline his offer. She began to talk after she took her first sip.

"Issei, during your sleep I have taken the liberty to explore your house. Looks like there's no large space for us to test if you have a sacred gear or not."

Issei nodded. Fortunately on that night Lancer was holding back, he had no doubt if she was to put more strength into her arms she could easily make a hole on the wall.

"I would prefer if we can activate your sacred gear within your house to hide it from other masters as long as possible. However looks like we have to make a bold move. Issei do you know of any abandoned or sparse large area?"

"If I have to think about it." Issei closed his eyes for a moment. "There's this one place."

After that they headed for the hill not too far from town. It was the only location that they could try out Lancer's method. However Lancer said she didn't like it very much since it would be easy for others to spy on them.

"We don't have other options though…" Said Issei. The best thing they could do was to force the Sacred Gear inside Issei to activate as fast as possible then retreat back to their home but still, there was no good way to know if Issei had one or not. Lancer's method only made the Sacred Gear come out faster but if Issei didn't have one then it would be meaningless.

"Here it is." Issei stopped his bicycle.

The hill of Kuoh town was nothing special. There was no rich family or such who built their villas on the hill so it was abandoned all the time. The scenery wasn't even good. By all means it should be a perfect place for Lancer to turn into her physical form and try out her method on Issei. When they were off the road Lancer switched with Issei and rode his bicycle deeper into the hill. In her hands the bicycle became a motocross. Lancer could ride it through the slope and mountainous terrain with ease. Issei found it hard to hold onto the bicycle so he didn't fall off.

After a few more minutes she stopped at a suitable space. Lancer let Issei take a minute break to recover from the ride.

"Alright Issei." The white lance appeared in Lancer's hand. "Let's finish this as quick as we can."

Issei gulped. But then Lancer immediately put her helmet on and turned to another direction.

Then it began. A strike that was so powerful it Issei could feel the shock from here. Sound of metal clashing one against another loudly could be heard. Row of trees got cut down and rocks got smashed into bits. Soon the two combatants entered their view. A woman in dark blue and red clothes fought against a large, burly man who had horns on his head. Two swords intercepted the large axe in many hits. Even an amateur like Issei could figure out the woman had much better skills than the brute yet she couldn't truly push him back. The man with horns was simply much stronger and faster, all his physical prowess was enough to counter the woman's skills even though his attacks were far more simple.

While Issei was awe at their fight it was Lancer who reminded him that those were servants and they might be dragged into the fight if they were to stay here. Then Issei saw a figure on one of the trees.

"Himejima!?"

There was no way he could mistake her beauty. The Kuoh idol wasn't in her school uniform but a miko attire. She was staring back at him and the fight between the two servants.

"So Himejima is a mage and a master for real." Issei muttered. Issei felt conflicted, if someone were to tell him he needed to fight and beat this beautiful girl then he would straight up answer no. Yet if Himejima wasn't what she looked like in school then she wouldn't have mercy on Issei if they were to cross. He had no idea what to do in this situation. Lancer's grip on her lance was tight. Issei knew certainly if he ordered her she would not hesitate to take down Himejima. One of the two servants who were fighting had to be hers so this was their opportunity. Suddenly something, Issei wasn't sure what it was. It looked like a metal wardrobe with a face of woman appeared out of nowhere behind Himejima. She let out a painful scream when it trapped her inside.

"Lancer! Please destroy that thing!" Issei decided to save Himejima. He didn't care who she really was. All he knew was that if he didn't act fast Himejima would die. It only took Lancer a few seconds to reach that thing and broke it with her lance. Himejima had fainted when Lancer caught her, there was blood everywhere on her white miko attire.

When Issei was thinking that he was too late another metal thingy appeared and trapped the swordswoman. Now the man with horns was free he jumped up to the tree where Lancer and Himejima were.

They would die. All Issei could imagine was that both Lancer and Himejima would die to the man's axe. There was no way Lancer could defend herself against such a powerful foe while she was holding Himejima. The man swung his axe, he chopped down the large tree with no trouble. Lancer had jumped down to dodge his attack but now she was at a disadvantage position. The man could easily brought down his axe on her in the next attack. There was no escape. If Lancer moved carelessly she might get trapped by that metal thing just like the swordswoman.

No. Issei would never allow it. He would never allow Lancer and Himejima to die like this. Red light flashed. Issei didn't care what it was. He pointed his left arm at Lancer only to hear a sound.

[Boost!]

Then he lost his breath. His body burned out, his throat was dried. It was as if he had run a thousand kilometers non stop. Issei blacked out immediately. His body fell on the ground. The last thing he could see was Lancer dashing toward him on something and the sound of broken metal.

When Issei woke up he was in an unfamiliar room. Lancer was sitting next to him. She had removed her helmet and her lance. Lancer seemed concerned when she looked at Issei.

"Master, you have awaken. How do you feel?" Lancer asked.

"I… I'm alright." Issei wasn't hurt or anything. He just felt extremely exhausted. "I can't really move my body in this state though."

Lancer let out a relaxed sigh when she heard that.

"What happened? How did we escape that guy?" Issei asked.

Before Lancer could answer someone entered the room. When she came into his view Issei recognized it was Himejima and another woman behind her. She was the same swordswoman who fought that guy with the axe.

"Looks like you have woken up Issei." Himejima politely said. She carried a tray with 4 cups of tea. Lancer helped Issei up so he could take the cup Himejima gave him.

"Thanks." The black tea was nice. It somehow made him feel refreshed and took away his fatigue.

"It's nothing. I should be the one who said thanks to you. If you didn't order your servant to save me then I would have died in that thing." Himejima slightly bowed down her head. Now that Issei noticed her body was bandaged in several places.

"You are… Hyodo, right?"

"Y-Yeah." Issei blushed. It was a honor that the school idol knew his name.

"Well I didn't really expect you of all people to be one of the masters." Himejima sighed.

Of course. Even Issei himself had no idea he would become a master in this holy grail war just like that.

"Anyway let's make our introduction. My name is Akeno Himejima and I am the master of Saber. Nice to meet you Hyodo." The swordswoman who just finished her cup of tea casually waved her hand at Issei. She looked like a friendly woman unlike the master of the swords impression Issei got earlier.

"Oh um my name is Issei Hyodo. This is Lancer and I'm her master. Nice to meet you too Himejima." Lancer only nodded her head a bit before returning to her cup of tea. It looked like Lancer fancied nice tea. When everyone finished their tea Himejima was the first to talk.

"Hyodo, I know this might sound sudden but I have a proposal. Would you like to hear it?"

Issei nodded.

"Just as we know earlier both you and me were under attacked by that savage servant. I have no doubt he is Berserker. However according to my knowledge it seems like he's not the only hostile servant."

"Correct. When that iron maiden appeared I could feel a presence of another servant however fainted it was." Lancer said.

"Iron maiden?" Issei asked, the name reminded him of something he had heard before.

"It is a torture device which pierces the person inside with metal spikes. Fortunately for some reasons the spikes weren't very deep so it only made me bleed but not fatal enough to kill me minutes later." Himejima pointed at her wounds.

"No master, the spikes that pierced me in the second iron maiden were deep enough to cause fatal wounds. It looks like someone went easy on you." Saber said. "Or it could be that because I am a servant so they went harder on me." Issei knew she should have visible wounds if what she said was true but since she's a servant her wounds healed much faster than normal people.

"My conclusion is that we have been attacked by Berserker and Assassin. None of the other servants from Rider, Archer to Caster could possibly employ a weapon like that and still able to conceal their presences from both Lancer and Saber." Himejima told him. "But iron maiden isn't a significant tool or associated with anyone. Even though we know the name and what it does it will take more to know which heroic spirit uses the iron maiden."

"I see." Issei nodded. It was terrifying to know that not only they had to deal with the brutal, seemingly unstoppable berserker but also an assassin who lurked in the dark and waited for a moment to trap them in that torture device thing.

"That is why, I want to make an alliance with you Hyodo. At least until we defeat Berserker and Assassin. We can cover our backs if we work together. Also I'm injured so my fighting capability has been reduced. It will be tough if I fight alone now, the same goes for you too I believe."

Issei thought for a moment. It was true that he wasn't a capable person and having Himejima and Saber as his allies would be great. There was no need to check Saber's strength since she had shown off during the fight against berserker. Issei believed Saber more or less was just as strong as Lancer. Issei nodded to himself at his conclusion. He glanced at Lancer and saw that she had completely let him decide his path.

"I accept your proposal Himejima."

"Good. One more thing I need to ask. What is your objective in this holy grail war Hyodo?"

"Well I just want to survive. I'm not really cut out for such a war." He answered honestly.

"I see. Then from now on we're allies Hyodo. This shrine here is my base. I have set up barriers and such for protection. It should be better for us to stay in one place in case they decide to assault our base."

"That's good to hear. I will have to convince my parents to let me stay here though." To stay in another person's home just like that wasn't a normal thing, least it was the school idol's home. Issei still couldn't believe he was going to live in the home as Akeno Himejima. It was something only happened in a manga or so.

"You don't have to worry about it. I can ask the school staffs to prepare a letter so you can stay at a proper place in order to focus more on your study'. It should be a trivial thing."

"You can do something like that?" Issei asked with astoundment.

"That's nothing. What surprised me was your magecraft Hyodo." Himejima replied.

Issei became dumbfounded when he heard that.

"What? Magecraft? But I don't know how to magic."

"Master, if you would allow me to explain." Lancer said as if she understood why Issei didn't know what Himejima told him.

"It was back when Berserker attacked us. I knew a direct clash against him would possibly result at our loss. However when you pointed your left hand at me a huge amount of mana entered my body no, I should say that I have become even stronger than in my top form. With your assist I succeeded in deflecting Berserker's blows, summoned my steed then carried all of us out of the combat zone. Saber also managed to break the iron maiden and escaped with us. Thanked to her guidance we reached this shrine here to recover."

Issei concentrated on Lancer's words. He really did something that amazing?

"I believe it was your Sacred Gear and not magecraft. Looks like you indeed have a Sacred Gear that can temporarily increase my strength for a short time. However since it's your first time using it the Sacred Gear might put too much strain on your body so you collapsed." Lancer continued. "Also after that looks like my strength has returned to this current state. Still your Sacred Gear will be a great tool against our enemies as long as we can time it right."

"Okay okay. Tell me how do I use this Sacred Gear." Issei was excited now that he found out he could help Lancer with this awesome artifact thingy.

"You don't know how activate it?" Himejima asked.

"I don't even know what it is. It was the first time I used something like that." Issei shook his head.

"We will figure it out after you recover. For now you should rest Issei but hm... You are not a mage so it will be tough to gauge other servants' power." Himejima told him. "I can lend you this."

Himejima gave him a book.

"This is a magic tome that will automatically record the stats of the servants you saw. It should be useful to someone like you. I already have something similar so you can have this one."

"Thank you."

"As for you Lancer, I understand it's your precaution but you should wear something else indoor. I can get you some clothes."

"There's no need. As a knight it's my duty to be ready to protect my master and defeat his enemies anytime." Lancer said.

Yet Issei had a different thought. From the beginning he had always seen Lancer in her armor. She was very beautiful and Issei had no doubt her body matched her face too. However it would be great if he could see her breasts. How large were they? Issei hadn't thought of this question until this day. He decided he had to find out about them.

"Lancer, I think you should change to normal clothes." Issei said in his serious tone.

"That's right. If you wear that armor you can't go out to buy snack you know. Unlike the era when I lived there are so many things to eat around here." Saber said. Indeed she looked like a Japanese in casual clothes even though her hair was of cherry blossom color. Issei had a gut feeling that Saber was a Japanese heroic spirit but there were many samurais and warriors who followed the path of the sword. For now he returned to the matter of Lancer.

"I mean." Issei tried to convince Lancer. "You have helped me through a lot of things. I want you to relax a bit too. The armor makes you look serious all the time."

Lancer knew that her master wasn't going back down so she just followed his words. When Lancer went with Himejima for clothes Issei fell back on his futon. He would need to prepare to stay in this shrine a few weeks or more. To live with a beautiful woman such as Lancer was great but living together with the school idol and another beauty was even better! Speaking of which Saber just ate another rice cracker. She really was an easy-going person huh.

"Want some?" Saber offered Issei a piece of rice cracker.

"No thanks, I want to sleep now."

Issei wished every other masters and servants were friendly people just like these two.

* * *

 **Servant: Lancer**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Issei Hyodo**

 **Strength: C**

 **Endurance: B-**

 **Agility: B-**

 **Mana: B-**

 **Luck: D**

 **NP: ?**

 **Servant: Saber**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Akeno Himejima**

 **Strength: B**

 **Endurance: B**

 **Agility: B**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: C**

 **NP: ?**

 **Servant: Berserker**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: B++**

 **Endurance: B++**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: D++**

 **Luck: C++**

 **NP: ?**

 **Servant: Assassin**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: Iron Maiden (?)**

 **Congrats on guessing the right servant.**


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

 **Chap 4**

How many times could a person dream of the same dream? Issei asked himself. There he was, floating in this space with that red orb in front of him. But this time it was different, this time Issei knew what he was looking at.

The red orb became a giant monster. Its green eyes flashed. Issei knew it was looking at him, he also saw that it was saying something but he couldn't hear it.

Issei woke up. He rapidly opened and closed his eyes.

That was a dragon. A large red dragon. Since when he had dreamed about such things? Not even in his childhood when he watched superheroes shows everyday that he dreamed of such a creature. Issei let that thought slide for a second. He looked outside and saw that afternoon was about to end.

"I have to call my parents."

He assumed that they would have dinner here since there were too many things to discuss from Berserker and Assassin's true names to how they should help each other. It had been only 4 days and he already got himself into troubles multiple times. Issei knew he was lucky, if it was just him alone he wouldn't live to this day. Lancer was always there to help him when he needed her the most.

"I really need to find a way to become stronger, not just for myself but also Lancer." When Issei was about to get to the door someone slided it first.

"Ah Issei. I see that you have woken up. Come, Himejima has prepared dinner for us."

The only thing he could do was to open his mouth like a fish on land. Issei had always known Lancer was a beautiful woman but what he was looking at threw his mind out. In front of Issei was Lancer in a white blouse and blue jeans. The clothes were fairy normal, they weren't what turned Issei's brain into a mess.

"Are you alright?" Lancer asked with concern.

"My goddess!" He screamed.

Her breasts were huge! They were the biggest ones that he had seen in real life and probably in his AV collection too! Her breasts were so big they strained the fabric of her white blouse which only enhanced them more. Issei could see the outline of her bras even. Driven with lust he couldn't hold back and dived into Lancer's bountiful breasts.

"Issei? What's the matter? Are you still tired?" Lancer was confused by his act.

"I'm not Lancer. I'm in heaven right now." His face was being buried deep into Lancer's cleavage. She got a really nice smell. Her breasts gave Issei a sense of peace and safety, he unconsciously understood that his soul was protected by this divine pair of breasts.

"If you have recovered then we should not let Himejima and her servant Saber wait. We have much to discuss about our enemies Issei." Lancer reminded him, she had no clue on why her master would hug her like this.

"Okay okay, just let me make a phone call first."

If he wanted to enjoy these boobs he needed to survive this war. Issei followed Lancer to the room where they would have dinner. From what Lancer said the room he was staying was a room for guests. Issei guessed he would be staying in this room once he moved to live together with Himejima. He looked at Lancer from her back. She was wearing normal clothes now. If she went out nobody would think she was a gallant knight in the past but a beautiful foreigner. She was taller than him too. Still Lancer was his servant yet when he saw her in normal clothes a part of him wanted her to live like a normal person. In fact shouldn't he treat her like a normal person and not a powerful magical guardian who vowed to protect him?

'I ought to do that.' Issei concluded.

Lancer on the other hand didn't seem to notice Issei's internal thought. She kept walking until they reached the dining room.

"Good evening." Greeting them was Himejima in her kimono. There were plenty of dishes on the table, Issei noticed that Saber looked like she couldn't wait to dig into them.

"Excuse me Himejima but can I use your telephone?"

"Sure, the telephone is located in that room." Himejima gave him the direction.

Issei quickly headed toward the room while Lancer followed him. His parents didn't object to him not having dinner at home so Issei simply walked back to the dining room so nobody had to wait for him. Himejima and Saber sat his opposite while Lancer sat next to him.

"Let's dig in!"

The food made by Himejima was delicious! The tempura was crispy but not too oily and the miso was finely seasoned. Issei couldn't find any flaw in these dishes.

"Please let me have another one! You are a great cook Himejima!"

While his bowl was being refilled Issei noticed that Lancer was using chopsticks like any Japanese. He was surprised. Lancer was a westerner yet she knew how to handle chopsticks which weren't seen in Europe until much much later, as expected from a legendary figure, not even chopsticks could be a trouble to her.

Issei glanced at Saber, he saw that she was enjoying the meal too. Unlike Himejima who was eating with grace Saber pretty much ate as many bowls as she could.

"As I thought Japan food is the best!" Saber then had another bowl. Now Issei understood why Himejima cooked for more than 4 people.

"Hm…" There was a clear satisfaction on Lancer's face as she continued to taste all the dishes. Just like Saber she was eating pretty fast, the only difference was that she didn't ask for many bowls of rice.

When dinner was over they started the meeting. It was decided that the dishes would be washed later.

"So Hyodo, first of all let's discuss about the possible identities of our enemies' servants. What do you think of them?"

"The guy with axe and horns… Is he a Viking? His attire looks like those I saw in video games." The axe, shield and his leather attire reminded Issei of them.

"We don't know for sure but likely Berserker is someone from the north europe or related to Viking in some way. Ice or cold magic must be ineffective against him. We don't know his true name but the good thing is Berserker draws a lot of mana so he won't be able to fight for a long time least the master gets drained to death." Himejima explained.

"I see. So if we band together we can force Berserker to fight a long fight and then-"

"He will either have to retreat to let his master rest or his power will decrease due to the low supply of mana." Saber finished while chewing on her rice cracker.

"What do you think Lancer? Is it a viable plan?" Issei turned to Lancer who happened to be inspecting a honeyed rice cracker.

"Yes, I might not be able to defeat Berserker by myself but with Saber we can definitely do it."

Then she took a bite.

Lancer seemed to be enjoying the snack. Issei was sure that she was someone who gained joy in eating.

"The problem is Berserker's master have allied with Assassin's master or at least they are working together now. We have no clue on when Berserker will fight by himself and Assassin isn't standing by, looking for a chance to cripple one of our servants." Himejima added. "As for the identity of Assassin I haven't figured out any notable name…"

From what he understood if it was a two-on-one then Lancer and Saber could beat Berserker but if Assassin joined the fray then they would have less chance to win. Assassin's iron maiden was also a dangerous weapon that could take a master's life immediately. Issei doubted he could break out that coffin like Saber, not even Himejima could do it after all. But he wasn't sure if he should let Lancer fight by herself since he really had no way to defend against attacks from other masters or servants.

"The next problem is how we should act at school. Fighting at the school is important but so is scouting. When we are at school we should stay close Hyodo, that way either Saber or Lancer can watch over us and the other one can go out to gather information."

But it wasn't easy. Himejima was an idol at school, for someone like Issei to be with her was unimaginable. The students would question about such development if they saw it. As if she could read his mind Himejima said.

"I already have a plan for that. My classroom is on the third floor while yours is on the second floor underneath it so as long as one of our servants is with us she can protect us both by breaking the floor if necessary. As for break time you will move to the empty room next to the Tea Club. I will make sure that except you nobody can enter that room."

Issei nodded. Himejima was the vice president of the Tea Club but he couldn't join the club, not with his reputation so it made sense for him to stay at the room next door.

"The biggest problem is learning the true identities of the hostile servants. It's the best way to gain the upper hand against them and their masters."

"What can we do…"

The room became silent.

"It's late now. You should go home Hyodo. Let's continue our discussion at another time." Himejima looked at the clock.

Issei agreed with her. When he was about to leave he realized one important thing.

"Where's my bicycle?"

He had completely forgotten about his bicycle until now.

"My apologize Issei, at that time I was focusing on saving you so I didn't think of your vehicle." Lancer bowed down to him.

"No it wasn't your fault Lancer, you did the right thing back then. Still losing my bicycle is not something I can explain to my parents." It could get him into a big trouble, not to mention to them he had been behaving bad these days so his parents would question him even more. Issei really didn't want his parents to know and involved in this war. Above all their safety was one of his priorities too.

"It's evening right now, I believe it is not wise to return to that hill to retrieve your bicycle Issei. Our enemies could be setting up a trap if they think your bicycle is important to you. But if you insist I can go take a look once you're within the protection range of Saber."

"Well… Let's return home for now. I will think up something for that matter." He didn't have any better plan.

"And one more crucial thing Issei. Himejima and Saber are our allies now but there's no telling that they won't backstab us in the future. Therefore give me the permission to kill Himejima if she ever plans to kill you Issei." Lancer coldly said.

Issei got a chill just by hearing that. "Killing Himejima? But-"

"Listen Issei, you're not someone who has gone through conflicts to understand that allying with someone is always temporary. You must know that there is no eternal allies and eternal enemies. I know you won't betray Himejima but are you absolutely sure that they won't eliminate us for the grail? We only meet them for the first time, we don't truly understand their intention and how they operate under normal circumstances and under pressure. Even if you told them that you just wanted to come out unscathed do you think they will take your words for real?"

Sweat rolled on his back as he continued to listen to what Lancer said. He had experienced the brutality of a mage first hand. It wasn't like he had concrete proof that Himejima would not sell him out for her benefits. If Saber wasn't locked in a fight against Berserker then Saber could have engaged Lancer instead. Issei really didn't want think about that outcome.

"I'm not saying that we will kill them eventually. This is just a countermeasure for your survival Issei. As your knight I ask you to put your trust on my judgement."

The tone of a king! Issei couldn't refute her point so he just nodded.

"Good, on top of that you should let me taste the food first to see if they're poisonous or not since we will be living with them. My body can take it and still able to fight them off if necessary."

Issei nodded again, he could see the logic in Lancer's words.

Since Lancer had normal clothes on her she didn't turn into spirit form but walked along with him. There was little to talk during their walk. Issei didn't know what to say after Lancer telling him such things about Himejima. He didn't want to believe that someone like her could betray him but he couldn't pick out the flaws in Lancer's words. He was too naive on these matters unlike Lancer who clearly had experienced when she was alive. Perhaps it was better to listen to Lancer.

When he arrived home he had to lie to his parents that the bicycle was damaged so he left it at a store to be fixed. Fortunately his parents didn't ask for more and just told him to go to bed. Lancer hid herself and when Issei went to his room he opened the window so Lancer could jump in.

Issei made sure that he had packed everything before going to bed. He didn't bother with his games as today had been a long day for him.

"Good night Issei."

"Good night Lancer." He felt warm when Lancer said that to him.

There was no mistake this time, what he had been seeing in these dreams was a large red dragon. But there was more tonight. The dragon wasn't alone, it was sitting on a green hill and there was a castle not too far away.

[Finally you have reached this stage to see me. Took you long enough partner.]

Who are you?

[My name is Ddraig, I am the Red Dragon Emperor that resides within your Sacred Gear.]

Red Dragon Emperor?

[Yes, once I was a legend among the ancients but I was defeated and my soul was forged into this Boosted Gear. That's right, your Sacred Gear is Boosted Gear-one of the Longinus which has the potential to kill even gods and godlike beings.]

Issei was shocked to hear that. He didn't know he had such an amazing artifact inside his body.

[But to use it you will need to train a lot, with your body right now Boosted Gear will only become a great burden. Still, this is the first time I see something like this.]

The castle?

[This world, this dream… It doesn't belong to you.]

"Then who?"

"Issei?"

Issei blinked a few times, he realized he was no longer in his dream but back to his room.

"Are you okay Issei? Did you have a bad dream?" Lancer came over to him.

"I'm alright… no it's not a bad dream. I'm fine."

It was Sunday, today he would move to the Himejima residence. He had packed everything he needed but he still had to convince his parents. Luckily Himejima had arranged that for him, after breakfast a teacher from the school came to visit and told his parents about studying with one of the best students to improve and discipline Issei into a model student. Needless to say his parents instantly agreed as they believed that Issei would grow up from a useless son to a proper man.

He wasn't very pleased but he got what he wanted so Issei didn't complain. Lancer went out of the house through the window first, she caught up with Issei when he began to walk to Himejima's shrine. The beautiful Lancer insisted to help him with his luggage but Issei had to decline that. He couldn't let someone like Lancer carry his stuffs in public, that would be embarrassing.

"Hey do you know that there's a nun who gives out free food at the bank of the river?"

"Really? Let's go to that place then! I haven't had eaten anything for breakfast yet!"

On their way they heard the conversation of the homeless. The word 'nun' caught his attention.

"Could it be?" Curious got the better of him so Issei and Lancer followed the homeless to the bank of the river. From afar he could see table with two people who were distributing soup and bread to the homeless. He recognized the same nun he met just the day before. The other person who was helping her was a handsome young man with long brown hair, he had to be a member of the church as his attire was similar to a priest.

When Issei was about to come greet them Lancer pulled him back.

"Don't come near them Issei. The person next to that girl is a servant." She whispered to him.

But it was too late, the blond nun had seen him. She waved and spoke to him in English which again he didn't completely understand.

"Mister? You have come for food? You are homeless?" She pointed at his luggage. The man next to her said something and she opened her eyes wide. But still Issei walked to her and began to help to give the food to the homeless.

"Excuse me, I have no intention to fight. Please don't worry." He said in English.

The man nodded, he seemed to agree with Issei but he could see the skeptical look on Lancer's face. Still she said nothing, she just followed Issei's lead to distribute the food. When they were done and the homeless had left the man started to speak in fluent Japanese.

"Thank you for your help. God must have sent you here to assist us. I am Rider and this is my master." His smile was gentle.

"Servant, Lancer. You don't look like you want to fight today."

"Of course." He shook his head. "My master wishes to help any person that she could and as her servant I would do my best to help her."

Lancer said nothing. Issei too didn't know what to say. He had expected to fight more amazing or ruthless people but the nun looked harmless no matter how he thought about it. Issei knew he would have trouble fighting someone like her.

"Thank you." The nun bowed to him. "But you are also a master? You want the holy grail?"

"No no no I don't want it!"

"But you participate in the holy grail war." The nun said.

"Er…" Could he really tell her about his true intention?

"You are a good person. I do not wish to fight you no, I do not want to fight and hurt anyone at all but I have no choice. I need the holy grail..." The nun said in sadness. Rider said nothing, Issei felt that the situation had become very awkward.

"I pray that God protect you." The nun finally said.

"T-Thanks." Issei replied. He would like to talk more but he knew he had to go now.

"One more thing, may I know your name mister?"

"Issei Hyodo, my name is Issei Hyodo but you can call me Issei."

"My name is Asia Argento, it is nice to meet you Issei."

It was only when they arrived at the shrine Lancer talked to him.

"That girl doesn't have any intention to fight. Her servant seems to be very loyal to her, if she is in danger he would fight but if we leave her alone then they won't come to us either."

"Is that so?"

Still that didn't mean he could convince her to join them. First of all he was sure that both Himejima and Argento wanted the holy grail for their own purposes. He feared that Himejima wouldn't hesitate to fight the nun if she ever let down her guard. Issei understood that he was here because he didn't really want to fight in this war, otherwise Himejima wouldn't ally with him that easy.

Himejima was there to greet him, with her guidance he put his luggage in the guest room then they began a discussion.

"Besides Berserker and Assassin do you know any of the other servants yet?" Himejima asked.

"Yes, we just met Rider and his master at the bank of the river." Issei replied.

"I see. So that leaves us Archer and Caster. I have confirmed the identity of Archer's master, they are not our enemies at the moment so we should focus on learning who is Caster. After determining which one is our enemies we will begin a plan to defeat them. Hyodo can you describe Rider and his master? How do they look?"

"Rider… he could be someone related to Christianity. His master is a nun and she knows healing magecraft."

"Or Rider wears priest clothes to hide his real identity. We only see his appearance and there's nothing notable about him so it will be hard to know his true name." Lancer said.

"Alright, so we know Rider's master is at least a Christian. In that case her base could be that abandoned church. I will send my familiars to observe it from the distance."

"Familiars?"

"Mages can create or make contracts with magical beings to be their familiars but that's not important. Hyodo you need to master your Sacred Gear as fast as possible as it will help us a lot."

Issei nodded. The dragon also mentioned that he needed to train his Sacred Gear if he wanted to use it in a right way.

"Then we will be borrowing the yard. Let's go Issei."

He stood to follow Lancer. This would be the first step to survive this war.

* * *

 **1\. Servant: Lancer**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Issei Hyodo**

 **Strength: C**

 **Endurance: B-**

 **Agility: B-**

 **Mana: B-**

 **Luck: D**

 **NP: ?**

 **2\. Servant: Saber**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Akeno Himejima**

 **Strength: B**

 **Endurance: B**

 **Agility: B**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: C**

 **NP: ?**

 **3\. Servant: Berserker**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: B++**

 **Endurance: B++**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: D++**

 **Luck: C++**

 **NP: ?**

 **4\. Servant: Assassin**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: Iron Maiden (?)**

 **5\. Servant: Rider**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Asia Argento**

 **Strength: D**

 **Endurance: A+**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: A+**

 **NP: ?**


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

 **Chap 5**

"Now that you have activated your Sacred Gear you should have no trouble calling it out." Lancer said. They were in the middle of the yard. Issei was in his gym uniform while Lancer changed back to her armor.

There was a few hours left before lunch yet he didn't want to waste them. Every effort would help him to survive this war. Lancer had a wooden sword which she borrowed from Himejima. Issei definitely agreed that a wooden sword would be a massive improvement compared to her silver-white lance.

"Focus on your desire to use your Sacred Gear. The artifact reacts to your will, it will answer to your instinct to fight and survive. The more emotion you put into your Sacred Gear the stronger manifestation it will become."

He closed his eyes. The desire to fight, the desire to be able to help and support Lancer… Issei felt something, when he opened his eyes he saw a red gauntlet on his left arm. It covered his from the fingers to the elbow. There was a green gem on the back of his hand and along the gauntlet were two lines of gold trims.

"This is the Boosted Gear…" Issei showed his Sacred Gear to Lancer and Akeno.

"Boosted Gear? It looks similar to a common Sacred Gear called Twice Critical, back in my days some of my soldiers had them. It is the type that can double your power or more depends on how you master it." Lancer said. "I have never heard about it giving strength to others like what you did in our encounter with Berserker though."

Issei recalled the words of the red dragon, it said that with this Boosted Gear he could even kill gods and godlike beings. Issei wasn't sure how he could do that if it just increased his power because he was weak as hell. Even if it doubled his strength he doubted he could take on Lancer or Himejima. For someone who had no clue on how to use magic Issei had a huge disadvantage against other masters, he didn't know any martial art too so he wouldn't be able to beat them in melee either.

"Do you have any idea how does this work Himejima?"

"Unfortunately my knowledge on Sacred Gear is very limited. Like Lancer said I believe this is a variant of Twice Critical but besides the ability to double your power I don't think it can do anything else." Himejima shook her head. "But do not be afraid. Sacred Gear feeds off your desire and grows accordingly to your will so if you train hard enough you can probably unlock a new ability."

So both Lancer and Himejima weren't experts on Sacred Gear Issei thought.

"Let me call out the dragon resides in it. Maybe he can explain stuffs to us."

"There is a dragon inside your Sacred Gear?" Lancer asked with surprise. "Then it cannot be a normal artifact. Only high tier Sacred Gears contain souls of phantasmal beasts, looks like yours will be more useful than we thought."

"Alright! Then please come out! Ddraig!"

But there was no respond. Issei tried to call out the Red Dragon Emperor's name a few more times but there was nothing. It was embarrassing for him to fail in front of the two beauties.

"Ddraig? Y Ddraig Goch?" Lancer asked.

"Yeah? I only saw him in my dream the first time and he told me his name was Ddraig… I don't know if I pronounce it right. He is a huge red dragon, you know those western ones with huge bodies and large wings? Oh and his eyes were green now that I remember. He was the one who told me that my Sacred Gear is Boosted Gear but he didn't explain that it could do."

Lancer said nothing, perhaps that wasn't the dragon she knew? Issei hadn't heard of a dragon named Ddraig so he had no clue.

"Well anyway let's begin your training, try to use your Sacred Gear's ability Issei."

The moment he did that information entered his head, the Boosted Gear subconsciously told him of what it could do. Issei didn't understand how it works but he instinctively knew what it can do.

"With this I can double my power each 10 seconds! I can immediately increase my power after 1 boost or if I want multiple boosts then I can store them to be used later. The Boosted Gear will reset when the increased power goes away and I have to wait for the boost again. Let's try 1 boost first. Here I go!"

The green gem flashed and shouted 'BOOST!' after 10 seconds. Instantly he felt stronger… then exhausted as if he had run around the town.

"Are you alright Issei?" Lancer came to support him.

"I'm fine, just very tired. This feeling, didn't this happen to me the first time when I summoned Boosted Gear too?" Issei tried to catch his breath, sweat rolled on his back and his throat was dried. Just now he felt even more tired after the Boosted Gear announced 'RESET'.

"Yes, however just now I could receive the influx of mana from you Issei. Not only my stats have recovered back to their peaks but I can also feel that my noble phantasm has become a little stronger than usual." Lancer said as she helped him sit down on the ground.

"I see. Himejima nodded. "Originally Issei is not a mage so his magic circuits and mana pool are of low quality so you aren't your top form due to the limit of what he can give you. However when his Sacred Gear doubles his power it also increases his magical capability for a short time. With his connection your body immediately takes that portion of mana to go back to full power state but because of this unnatural increase of power Issei suffers from fatigue as he is not used to provide so much mana for a servant, on top of that his body too has to carry the backlash when the increased power goes away."

"Is-Is that so?" Issei couldn't hide his shock from her explanation.

"The way I see it the increase in power is a great trump card that will decide the outcome of the battle, even if I can only use my full power in a short time I'm confident that I can protect you my master. However since your Sacred Gear drains you this much after a single use it's best that you save it when you have no other option."

"Yeah…" He nodded. Lancer's words made sense.

"That should do it for now. Let's head back to the dining room." Akeno said. Issei could barely move so he agreed. With Lancer's help they walked back to the dining room, she also gave him a cool cup of water when they arrived.

"You don't look so good, was the sparring that rough?" Saber asked. She was reading a book, the cover had a samurai holding a sword. The book seemed rather new, the kind that one could grab at any bookstore.

"Eh… kinda." Issei scratched the back of his head.

They didn't train, all he did was to test out his Boosted Gear and it was over. Issei was too weak, in his mind if he could double his power every 10 seconds he should become strong enough to beat anything but his body simply couldn't hold that much power.

'If I know something like that I would have worked out everyday!'

In the past time he had done something like that until he realized he could never become a superhero like those in anime so he just gave up and focused on other things such as video games and AV. Still it didn't mean that he couldn't train his body again, starting the next day. The dragon said that he needed to train if he wanted to use Boosted Gear properly so training his body was definitely a good start.

The lack of combat experience was another weakness. Issei believed other masters including Himejima knew how to fight in some ways, only he was the exception. Issei decided that he couldn't sit idle on that problem, he had to remove it somehow. Both Saber and Lancer were extremely good at fighting, if he could ask them to teach him some of the basic Issei believed he would improve a lot in a short time.

That was assuming they wouldn't throw him around like a ragdoll.

Saber gave him a lazy look then returned to her book. "Someone like you need to train a lot if you want to at the very least protect yourself."

The nice smell of lunch entered his nostrils. He had recovered a little from the usage of Boosted Gear so Issei headed to the kitchen. He could see Himejima finishing the last touch on their lunch.

"Let me help you." As the one and only man in the house he couldn't let a beauty like her to do all the work.

"There is no need, I can do this by myself. Please return to the dining room." She quickly said then put all the dishes on the tray and walked by him. Issei could only reluctantly followed her back to the dining room.

When everyone began to eat lunch Issei felt awkward, Himejima didn't make him put rice into his bowl by himself or forbid him from sharing the same table yet there was something… It wasn't malicious intention but Issei somehow felt like Himejima didn't really enjoy his company. He hoped that he was imagining that. Sitting next to him Lancer used her chopsticks to sample all the food, she nodded and had a 'nice' expression on her face whenever she found something good. When she was done Lancer put the food into his rice bowl as if she indicated that these were safe. It was nice to have a beautiful woman to share the dishes with him so Issei didn't complain yet for some reasons he just felt that Lancer was more interested in tasting the food than checking if they're poisoned or not.

When lunch was over Himejima pulled out a map on the table. From the look of it it was definitely the map of Kuoh town.

"I have circled some of the locations that our enemies might be hiding. The abandoned church is the most suspicious one as you mentioned the nun with Rider before."

"What about the new church?" Issei asked. In Kuoh town there were two churches, the first one was broken due to mismanagement and abandoned. The second one was built not too long ago but from what he knew there was only one priest living there.

"We don't have worry about it, not for now at least. The priest at the new church is sent by Vatican to observe this holy grail war and to cover any disturbed events that might happen after skirmishes between masters and you read the newspaper you might see a hint or clue about supernatural activities." Issei had no idea the church had a role in this war like that. He had to be careful around them now.

Himejima pointed at the a large area at the outskirt of Kuoh town, Issei recognized it was the decommissioned warehouse. When he was young he always wanted to explore there but his parents never let him, they said that it was too dangerous and soon people would tear the building down but till this day no one had touched that warehouse yet.

"This one haven't been scouted out, I want you to go there with my familiars and observe it. Record any sign of people living there or strange activities." Himejima told Lancer. "Yesterday Saber helped me scout out an area so today it's your turn."

Lancer nodded, when they agreed to join force this wasn't out of her expectation. She slightly glanced at Issei and then left to do as Himejima said. He immediately understood that if something happened here he would use a command spell to call Lancer back. He recalled what Lancer told him before… Issei really hoped he wouldn't have to fight Himejima and Saber.

After Lancer had left everyone returned to their rooms, Issei unpacked his luggage. He didn't bring many things: clothes, books, some miscellaneous items. The most important thing is his porn collection. He checked out the guest room thoroughly, trying to find a place that he could hide his porn stack. Although Lancer, Saber and Himejima were beautiful it was totally a different matter. As a healthy teenager Issei needed his daily porn dose, it sucked that he had no laptop to install eroge but these magazines would do for now.

'I wonder if Himejima discovers these will she kick me out or not…'

After a full minute of careful consideration he put them back in his luggage.

"Now what to do."

Issei knew that it wasn't good for his stomach if he did some heavy physical training.

"Oh oh right! Homework!"

Issei quickly took his notebook and headed straight to Himejima's room. This was his chance to get to know her, the closer they were the less of a threat she would think of him. Since she was his senior he could ask her some problems that he might have troubles with. When he arrived he knocked the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me Hyodo."

Himejima came out to see him. "Is there anything you need?" She took one look at his notebook. "Is it about your homework?"

"Yeah, I want to ask you about these math problems you see..." Issei nervously said.

"At the moment I'm busy so I can't help you. Besides didn't you pass the test entrance? Surely you are good at mathematics because it is one of the most important subjects at Kuoh High? You're not lazy on your study right Hyodo?"

"I-I…"

"If it's about these trivial matters then don't come find me." She coldly closed the door.

Issei could only returned to his room with his head down in rejection. He should have known… Of course a school idol like Himejima would not want to be close to a pervert like him under normal circumstance. The sole reason he was allowed to live here was to ally with her in this war. Otherwise no way he could ever get close to Himejima.

Issei quickly did his homework. It only took him less than 2 hours or so. Now that Lancer was gone he couldn't ask her to train him. Issei decided to go to Saber's room. She was much friendlier than Himejima so perhaps she would agree to teach him a thing or two… He hoped so.

"You want to learn how to fight? Sure! Let's go to the dojo." Saber answered him enthusiastically. "I don't have anything else to do anyway."

"Alright, first thing first let's see what you got." Saber entered a simple stance with one bamboo sword out. Issei too grabbed a bamboo sword as told by her. Normally he doubted he wanted to use all his force against a beauty like Saber but he understood that she wasn't a normal human. Even if he came at her with all his might she wouldn't hurt at all.

"Here I come!" Issei charged at Saber, he aimed for her head and brought his sword down but Saber easily sidestepped the attack. Issei chased after her, he swung his sword at her right shoulder yet it only hit the air as Saber dodged his attack. Issei continued to assault her with multiple slashes and stabs but his attempt at hitting her was futile.

After 15 minutes of going nowhere Issei sat on the floor, breathing heavily while Saber didn't even sweat.

"S...So how was it…?"

"Well." Saber closed her eyes for a second. "You are terrible, be it your striking strength, speed or skill. All of them is worse than even a farmer. It is as if the sword hated you so it didn't let you use it."

He knew he was bad but this was worse than he thought.

"If you want to learn the way of the sword then it will take you… 10 years? 20 years maybe? You will manage to beat an average practitioner after such time assuming he is going easy on you." Saber bluntly told him.

He almost wanted to cry and hide himself in a closet when she said that. Not only his Sacred Gear didn't help him much, he had no magic and his physical capability was bad but his combat skills were also horrible!?

"So is there any method for me to become stronger in a short time?"

"Frankly no, but you can improve your self-awareness and defense if you face an experienced opponent when you fight in a non-lethal sparring."

"Oh."

Then Saber came at him. Before he realized a cold hard sensation could be felt on his neck.

"That's one life." Saber said. "Let's see how many you will lose before you can sense my killing intent."

The sparring ended when Issei lost his 100 life. Saber was an easy-going person but when it came to training she was absolutely serious, she didn't cut him any loose in their training. The good thing was that she had great control over her strength so Issei didn't have any bruises or cuts on his body. He still felt depressed when Saber confirmed that he wouldn't improve in a short time though.

"Ha…"

"Hey don't feel sad because you couldn't dodge or block my attack."

"Yeah I know… A normal human is no match for a servant in combat."

"Yes, that's why you should focus on supporting Lancer. As a master it's important for you to give your servant right directions in a crucial time. You have a good Sacred Gear for that as it can increase Lancer's power even if it's only for a short amount of time. Learn to use it at the right time will give you a better result than you think." Saber explained it to him. Issei nodded, he thanked her for the advice.

"Ha… If only my master is a simple guy like you."

"Eh?"

"It's complicated… Anyway you better go take a shower. No one's gonna let you in the dining room if you walk in like that." Saber then returned to her room.

Take a shower… He thought that now he lived in the same house as Himejima he would finally get to experience those erotic encounters like those h manga but Himejima already banned him from entering the main bathroom right at the beginning.

 _'If you ever enter that bathroom without permission from me I will kick you out immediately, no question. If you think you can sneakily peep on me or anyone in this house then know that I have set up several traps and barriers. You will not get far Hyodo so think twice if you still want us to be your allies.'_

Issei got a chill whenever he recalled her words hence he heading to the small bathroom which was built for guests. This one was not as good as the main one for sure but he had no complaint. 'Better than having to go to the public bathhouse.'

Lancer returned just right on time for dinner.

"How is the warehouse?"

"It was risky entering the warehouse by myself since we don't know how good the hostile servants are at detection but from what I observe there's nothing suspicious, no magic trace, no sign of living or anything that could lead to the conclusion that someone is there."

"I see." Himejima nodded to Lancer's report. "Good work. With this we can narrow down our possible targets more but I will have a couple of familiars station there to see if there's any new development. Now let's have dinner everyone."

During dinner Himejima told Issei to remember that he was a master now so it was best not to interact too much with other normal students.

"You don't want our enemies to take your friends as hostages now do you?"

There was also that problem... Issei had to keep his distance with Matsuda and Motohama, at least until this war ended.

After Issei returned to his room with Lancer she quickly asked him if there was something going on when she was gone.

"No nothing, everything's fine." There was no way he could tell her about what he tried to do this afternoon.

"Alright then, but you need to remember to use command spell to call me back if you ever feel something's wrong Issei." She reminded him.

"Ya don't worry, I know what to do."

"Then good night Issei."

"Good night Lancer."

* * *

 **1\. Servant: Lancer**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Issei Hyodo**

 **Strength: C**

 **Endurance: B-**

 **Agility: B-**

 **Mana: B-**

 **Luck: D**

 **NP: ?**

 **2\. Servant: Saber**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Akeno Himejima**

 **Strength: B**

 **Endurance: B**

 **Agility: B**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: C**

 **NP: ?**

 **3\. Servant: Berserker**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: B++**

 **Endurance: B++**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: D++**

 **Luck: C++**

 **NP: ?**

 **4\. Servant: Assassin**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: Iron Maiden (?)**

 **5\. Servant: Rider**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Asia Argento**

 **Strength: D**

 **Endurance: A+**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: A+**

 **NP: ?**

* * *

 **AN: Is the story okay? Anything that I can improve? If anyone's confusing about why Akeno is being cold toward Issei remember this is the world where both of them aren't devils and this Akeno doesn't trust males, especially when Issei made such a bad name to himself at school.**


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

Chap 6

By this time Issei was certain that he would dream the same dream and meet that dragon again.

He wasn't wrong.

Unlike the last time Issei was standing on the ground, he could see the dragon was sitting on the green landscape too. It wasn't looking at him but something-a crowd of people faraway. Issei ran to the dragon, his body was light and he couldn't feel the ground at all.

You didn't appear this morning.

[Of course. You are not strong enough to manifest the Boosted Gear completely. I cannot appear and see the world through it until you manage to call out more of my power.]

I see, I still have a lot of work to do huh.

[You only use Boosted Gear twice, give it more time and you will slowly become better.]

He wanted to ask more about his Sacred Gear but he was more curious about what the dragon was looking at. Issei turned his head to that crowd of people. From here he could hear they were talking about something… It wasn't a language that he could recognize, Issei knew it was definitely not English. The people were wearing the attire of the old age, they had iron armors, helmets, long swords, bucklers and such. Issei ran toward them, he wanted to see what they were doing because from the sound of it they were arguing, shouting and cheering. He noticed that there were some sort of crests on their armors and they were different for each of them.

The dragon was still sitting there, it looked like he could see everything from that place. When he arrived Issei came to know that he couldn't see the faces of the people. They were blurred, the details on their faces were incomplete. It was as if they were the background characters in a manga. None of them stopped him as he walked a bit closer passing through the people. In fact they didn't notice his presence. Due to too many people and he wasn't the tallest among them he had to jump up to see what's in the middle.

A sword in a stone?

[Yes, the sword in the stone.] The dragon said. His tone was deep and he could somehow feel the pride and sadness.

The people were shouting louder which brought back his attention on them. Issei looked at that crowd again, one of the huge guys held that sword embedded in the stone with both of his hands, he tried to pull it but no matter how hard he put his strength in the sword didn't budge. Another man laughed at him, this new man shoved the first guy away then tried to pull the sword himself. Several other men repeated this bizarre act but no one could pull the sword.

What are they doing? What's with the sword?

[Keep watching.]

One by one the men came to take the challenge but no one could pull the sword. They said something then left the sword. Now there were only Issei and the sword left. He looked at it, the sword was decorated in gold and blue ornaments. It wasn't very long, Issei could probably hold it with one hand. When he was wondering what's the deal with this a person walked toward him. At first Issei thought that one was a boy but when he looked again he realized that person was a very young girl. She was adorable, her face was colored with hope and innocence. She didn't wear a dress but the attire that young boys of her age used to wear.

Did she come here to draw the sword? But none of the men could do it and now they are… the hell they are doing? Jousting? Is that jousting?

When he turned back to the girl there was an old man in robe next to her. Issei had no idea where he came from but for sure he wasn't among the ones who came to draw the sword. The old man said that unknown language to the girl as her hands touched the sword. There was a brief moment of silence. Issei just wished he knew what that language was to at least understand what they said.

[Fate can be cruel but to volunteer to be subjected to it for the sake of others… Was it foolishness, or bravery?]

Then he was back at his room. Issei blinked a few times, he tried to sleep to get back into that dream but it didn't work. He didn't see it yet he knew she had successfully drawn the sword. She was determined, her grip on the sword showed him that. What Issei wanted to see was what happened after she had drawn that sword.

After all there was only one person in this world that was associated to the sword in the stone that he knew of.

"Good morning Issei."

Lancer had already called him, he couldn't stay in bed anymore.

"Is something wrong?"

"No." He shook his head. "Good morning Lancer." Issei knew this place had one more room for Lancer but she insisted on staying in the same room as him. Never minded that she was a woman and thus had different lifestyle compared to him.

 _'I am your servant. It is my duty as your knight to stay close to you in order to protect you. Please do not worry about my personal needs.'_

Issei had no way to reject her after that so he just let her live in the same room as him like back in his house. For a second he dreamed up a scenario when Lancer lie next to him in the futon… That would be nice but it was just a dream, Issei understood all Lancer did was for his sake and he respected her for that.

He quickly got up, now that his brain was working properly Issei wouldn't want to miss his first day of workout. Since they were in a war it wasn't safe to run some laps around the neighborhood so he did pushups indoor instead.

"1...2...3…"

Sweat formed on his forehead as he continued.

"27...28...29…"

At first he was okay but when he hit the 50 his arms were all heated up. His muscles became tense and it was difficult to move.

"As expected… I cannot do more than 50 pushups if I start the workout immediately again."

He sat down on the floor to take a short break. When his arms cooled down a little Issei did 20 more pushups. By the time he finished he felt like his arms were falling apart.

"You shouldn't overdo it Issei." Lancer advised him. "Training your body is important but so does keeping it healthy."

"Yeah." Issei agreed, he used a towel to wipe away the sweat. "By the way can you um…"

"What is it Issei?"

"-teach me how to fight? I want to be strong enough to beat other masters." He quietly asked.

The previous day Saber had tested and told him that it would take him a lot of time before he could finally defeat someone. He understood that supporting Lancer was important yet he couldn't help but wanted to believe that Lancer would know some easier ways to quickly make him stronger.

"You want to defeat other masters?" Lancer narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, when you engage in combat against other servant I want to contribute to the battle too. This holy grail war might mostly revolve around the fights between servants but if the master on the field I want to fight against them. I was just a normal high schooler before I got myself into this war and am still one. I doubt I can beat anyone so I want to learn it as fast as possible."

Lancer looked at him while sitting silently. Issei had a gut feeling that she wouldn't accept his request.

"Of course I can teach you, if that is what you want. However I must warn you that-" She stressed. "More than likely you are the only exception in this war, even the culprit who kidnapped you prepared, or Himejima as you can see what she has done with this shrine. A commoner like you won't be able to do anything against them as long as they can use magecraft. A direct confrontation between a normal person and a mage will not end well for the first one. Even some basic spells such as air bullet or fireball can seriously wound and incapacitate you. Basic moves of a sword or a spear perhaps can help you a bit but even so it won't be able to protect the magecraft multiple times. Mundane equipments simply cannot do it and you don't have access to magical tools."

Issei knew he would be at the bottom of the list but this was worse than he thought.

"If you have to face another master who is a mage your best bet is to run away as fast as you can or let me protect you. I'd prefer the latter since mages can set up traps with ease to hinder their opponents, their familiars can also be the eyes and ears to observe your movements. It will be difficult for you to escape another mage who has preparation to kill or capture you. For you to become a good fighter after a few days of training is impossible unless you are a genius. I believe you know your capability, don't you master?"

Issei bowed down his head in defeat. First Saber told him that he wouldn't be able to do any significant for a long time and now Lancer outright explained that he should run away when he faced other masters. Issei understood why running away was his best option but still he wanted to do something. If only he was stronger he could use his Sacred Gear to an extend, Issei wanted to believe that without magic his physical capability should be good enough to fight against his enemies.

"In conclusion you should leave the fighting part to me and focus on your survival… But hold on Issei, am I the only one who you asked to teach you?"

"About that..." He gulped, he thought he could hide it from Lancer but looked like he couldn't. "I did ask Saber to teach me yesterday-"

"Master." Lancer changed the tone in her voice. "Why did you ask Saber first and not your servant?"

"Wait hold on don't be angry!"

"I am not angry master. You could have waited for me to return after my mission then asked me. Certainly just because Saber did a good job against Berserker while holding back it doesn't mean that she is better than me in combat. Don't tell me that you prefer her than me because she's an Asian and uses a pair of katana."

Lancer was definitely angry, Issei might be stupid but even someone like him could recognize that Lancer was upset when she learned that he asked Saber first to help him. Dual wielding katana is cool though. As a Japanese it was inevitable for him to think that it was awesome to use two katana in fighting, lots of anime characters used them and as a child Issei wanted to learn how to do that but that wasn't the problem now.

"Tell me, what did Saber teach you yesterday?"

"Nothing! She didn't teach me any moves! We just had a mock fight!" He confessed in hurry. "Which I lost no contest."

Lancer looked at him in the eyes until she confirmed that he wasn't lying. When Issei was about to apologize she said:

"One mock fight is fine. With your personality it's not really out of expectation that you wanted to try to improve yourself. However please remember not to expose yourself too much in front of Himejima and Saber. If you train under Saber she could tell her master what moves you will use when we face them in a fight. It will put you into a massive disadvantage position."

"Okay." He still didn't want to believe they had to face Himejima one day.

"Do not worry, if you really want to learn swordsmanship then I will teach you. I might be summoned under the Lancer class but I can promise you that my skill with the sword is top notch." Lancer confidently said.

"Then you will teach me the way of the sword?"

"Yes, I have never declined you haven't I? Even if you cannot become an expert after a night the experience you gain during your training will be valuable to you. You will have an idea of what to do when you face someone in a fight when you train enough. If you are the stronger one the enemy will aim at your weakest, if you are the weaker one you can make the enemy underestimate you and such. The road to become a good knight is long and hard but someone like you can do it, you are a hardworking person after all Issei."

"Thanks, I appreciate that." Issei wasn't sure how Lancer knew that he was a hardworking person but that's fine.

"We should begin it in the afternoon when you're done with school. We will be late for breakfast and school if we train now."

Issei nodded. He cleaned the floor of the room he was borrowing for his workout then took a bath. During breakfast Himejima reminded him to go to the empty room next to her club room during break. When the meal was over Himejima went to school first.

"It will be better if no one at school knows we are living together. We don't have time to deal with rumors and scandals now." Saber entered her spirit form to go with Himejima.

"What I was thinking…" No way Himejima would be going to school with him side by side, he really should stop treating this circumstance like an eroge. Issei cleaned up the table, washed the dishes then walked to school, Lancer accompanied him in her spirit form. Himejima should arrive at school before him so nobody would be suspicious if he came from the same direction.

When break came Motohama and Matsuda invited him to go for a peek but he told them to do it themselves. Issei tried to make it look like he was busy so they wouldn't bother him. When they were on their way he headed toward the canteen which didn't have many students. The reason for that wasn't because the food was bad, in contrast the food here was decently cooked by semi-professional chefs. The price was made with students whose family had average income in mind yet because the majority of the students' families were above the average so most of them brought their own lunch to sit in their classrooms. They enjoyed eating together with their friends more than having to go the canteen.

"Do you want anything Lancer?" Issei mumbled. There was a rotating catalog of lunch for everyday. Monday wasn't the day when they cooked the most demanding dish so it was easy for them to pick any dish that they wanted.

"Anything is fine." Lancer replied. "Although the brown soup with potatoes, carrots and meat seems interesting. If I'm not wrong it is an Indian dish called curry. If it's possible I'd like to try that dish."

"That's the chicken curry, I'll get one for you."

Although the chicken curry wasn't expensive Issei just realized that his monthly allowance wasn't enough for two people to have lunch. For the time being he could buy for both of them but in the future he would need to find an alternative way. Issei bought one bowl of chicken curry rice and one fried pork rice, he also grabbed two cans of tea. After lunch was secured Issei and Lancer walked to the room prepared by Himejima. Since the tea club room was on this floor many female students also walk around here in hope that they could see and interact with the school's idol Himejima Akeno. Needless to say Issei wasn't welcomed here, he avoided the female students' gaze and quickly went straight to the room.

It was a spacious room for two people. There was nothing but a couple of cardboard boxes which he found empty. From the look of it it seemed that the tea club used this as their storage room but Himejima had relocated their stuffs somewhere else so Issei could have this place. He turned on the lights then carefully checked the door and the windows to make sure that they were shut tight so Lancer could materialize.

"We can use these as makeshift tables to put our lunch on." There was no cushion so they just sat on the floor. Lancer dismissed her spirit form, she sat down in seiza gracefully and waited until Issei was ready for his lunch. Only then she clapped her hands to pray to the food and picked up her spoon.

"Now let's dig in." Issei opened up his fried pork bowl. He knew Lancer would like to try this dish so he put one piece of them over to her bowl.

"Thank you Issei." Fried pork didn't go with chicken curry but Lancer had little concern over that as she ate the cutlet with curry.

Issei glanced at Lancer, she was still in the white blouse and blue jeans that were given by Himejima. She looked nice in them but Issei was sure that these were the only clothes Lancer had. When they slept Lancer changed into a plain white sleepwear. The clothes were washed and dried by magic so Lancer could wear them everyday so it wasn't like she needed multiple sets of clothes. Her golden hair was tied up in a bun which gave her a professional look. Despite the lack of makeup her face was bright, her lips were rosy red and her eyes cast a charm on him whenever they met his. Those features were without doubt, a testament to her divine beauty.

Looking at her face reminded Issei of the dream this morning… The face of a younger Lancer who came to pull the sword. Her hair was shorter then and she didn't have that serious aura unlike the Lancer who became his servant. The more he looked at Lancer the more confused he became about the sword in the stone and the legend of the person who pulled it. He only knew one such famous figure yet it didn't ring a bell. It was so unreal, to think that he was eating lunch with such a person. Furthermore those breasts of her… They were too ample, they couldn't be fake! It would be heresy to think that the breasts of the king were fake. Issei had touched and felt them before, there was no way the dream and hope carried by them were fake.

Yet the story he knew didn't match up with his servant Lancer, hence why he was confused.

"The chicken curry and rice is delicious Issei." Lancer had finished her bowl and moved to the tea can. "The meat is tender and the soup is seasoned to show off its special taste, both the potato and carrot pieces are good too."

Her eyes shone when she spoke of the chicken curry.

"Lancer, could it be… that you want to have Himejima make the chicken curry at home? Oh right, here use this." Issei pulled out a soft tissue package in his pocket for her while quickly finished his meal. The curry made by the school chefs was good but Issei believed Himejima's wouldn't lose. She always gave him the impression that she was the perfect traditional Japanese lady so cooking had to be one of her strong traits.

"Ah no, certainly it would be nice if she can cook the chicken curry but currently we are staying at her home without paying anything. I think it's better if we just let her decide on the food."

"That is also true…"

For a minute there was silence as he wiped his mouth with the tissue and Lancer looking at him. He could hear the sound of chatting in the next room. If he wasn't mistaken Himejima was demonstrating her tea brewing skill and her club room members were commenting on it.

"Something's on your mind master?" Lancer saw that he hadn't opened his tea can yet.

"Well." Issei was debating whether or not he should ask about her real identity. Besides the gender part he was also questioning why she was summoned under the lancer class. That king who drew the sword and became a ruler was far more famous for his sword. Issei had never heard that the king also used a lance and was extremely good at it. The dragon said that the dream didn't belong to him so it had to be hers yet it didn't make sense to Issei.

Saber too… If one asked any Japanese who was the swordmaster that they thought of first the majority would answer that famous figure who used a two swords style. But Saber wasn't anything like the depiction that Issei knew of. In fact both Lancer and Saber being females really convinced him that he was indeed in an eroge, Issei had no other way to explain why his knowledge didn't go with this reality.

However he felt that he couldn't let his unanswered question stay in his heart. Issei bit the lower lip then opened his mouth.

"Lancer, you said that you wish that you could do better for your people… When you were alive were you a king or some kind of noble?" He wanted to confirm this at least. If Lancer was a king for real then she could be none other than the legendary King Arthur-the ruler of Camelot.

Lancer gave him a thoughtful look. "Issei, did you dream about me?"

The cat's out of the bag no, he should have known that Lancer would catch his intention when he asked her that question. That was too silly of him. "Yeah… I saw you in a dream but I don't understand. If you were that person then you must have that sword. The story revolves around you and that sword spreads to every corner of the world. When people hear your name the first thing they will think is your sword. That is why I don't understand, why would you be summoned under the lancer class when your legend doesn't mention your lance?"

"You have figured out this much…" Lancer took a deep breath. "It's not like I want to hide my true identity in the first place and you aren't someone who won't figure out it out once you saw a part of my past but still… Master, to clarify I am indeed that very person you know. People called me King Arthur Pendragon, that is my name when I drew the sword of selection and walked down the path of a king. As for my gender, when I became the king for the people I had also discarded my gender. It doesn't matter if I am a man or a woman, what matters is that I must act as a perfect king for my subjects." There was a pride in her voice when Lancer confirmed it to him.

"As for my lance… I believe it was less famous than my sword and thus people don't bring it up when they talk about me but rest assure master, don't be fooled by the book and think that my lance is not worth mentioning. This lance in my hand will protect you and defeat your enemies, it is just capable as my sword."

"Thank you for your answer Lancer." Looked like he didn't have to worry about her identity anymore. There were many other questions that he wanted to ask but Issei felt that he shouldn't do it, not for now.

"Issei, if we are talking about the true name of servants. Have you thought up anything? I know we likely won't be able to learn who Berserker, Assassin and Rider are but what about Saber?"

"About that… Well there were a lot of samurai and ronin in my country who used katana. To deduce Saber's name just because she uses two of them is not possible. However there is a swordmaster who is very famous for his two sword style, his name is Musashi Miyamoto. Do you know him? Oh sorry, you were an ancient western king. News about a Japanese swordmaster shouldn't be spread to your land in that age."

Lancer shook her head. "Servants like us come from the Throne of Heroes and return with the knowledge imprinted in our heads. While memory and knowledge could be the same thing it is different for us as we don't have the memories of what happened after we were summoned. What we have are similar to books in a library which we read everyday but not in any order. That's why we can recognize the identities of others even though we didn't live in the same age and never heard of them when we were alive."

"I see, that's why you do know about Musashi." The bell rang announced that it was time for class. Issei gulped down on his tea can and cleaned up the garbage before returning to class with Lancer in her spirit form. Knowing Saber's real name would give them an advantage but it would be a waste of time to try to guess hers without sufficient data so they decided that it was best to focus on other matters.

Classes were nothing special but Issei paid attention more to the teachers' lectures. Himejima wouldn't help his homework and he had to show that he could solve these problems by himself so he shouldn't overlook the lessons.

When school was over Issei could feel that Lancer walked next to him. The previous day she would wait at the back of the class but today was different. It looked like she had something that she needed to tell him immediately.

"What is it Lancer?" Issei murmured.

"Look outside the window Issei." He did as she said and saw a black cat sitting on a tree. "That is a familiar, it has been watching you ever since you entered the classroom."

Issei quickly left so the black cat wouldn't see him. "So you are saying that a mage has been spying on us all this time?"

"Yes, but there's something else. This school should be set up by Himejima to detect any supernatural movement but the black cat didn't meet any resistance. It cannot be that she didn't manage to detect it, even if the familiar somehow evaded the detection her servant Saber should know that it was there."

"I guess we will have to ask Himejima later on, for now let's go home." When he was heading toward the school gate Saber came to him in her spirit form to tell him that he needed to stay back for a bit. Issei and Lancer followed saber to the rooftop where Himejima was.

"I'm here Himejima."

"Did you encounter a black cat Hyodo?" She turned back to talk to him.

"Yeah, it was watching when I was in class I think." If Lancer didn't tell him he wouldn't know that he was being observed.

Himejima nodded. "That black cat is a familiar from one of the masters. When it came here it gave me a message to come for a talk between us. Without doubt that mage has learned that we are allies."

"Do we have any way to know that the black cat's master is not an ally of Berserker and Assassin's masters? It would be walking into a trap if those were allies."

"I don't think that they are allies, not for now at least. Berserker and Assassin are our enemies so if they find out we're in this school they would immediately retreat to set up an ambush later. However this master lets the familiar send a message to us so it's unclear whether this one is hostile or not. Still I think it's better if we can get one more ally on our side if we manage to convince this person. It is worth to try out."

He agreed to her plan as he had no other plans oh his own.

"Alright. Both of us will go to meet this master, the familiar will guide us to the meeting place. If we are in a bad situation you will use your Sacred Gear to boost Lancer so that she can carry you and me to escape like the last time. Saber will cover our back and destroy any iron maiden that appears to trap us. It will be a tough fight if we have to face 3 servants at the same time, I think that escaping is the best."

Himejima then pulled out several pieces of paper with kanji words on them. Those should be her charms. She checked them one by one and when she was done they began to follow the black cat. The cat wasn't fast but to Issei it wasn't a leisure walk. He was worried that this master was baiting them into a trap. Although Lancer and Saber would protect them for someone like Issei he didn't know what kind of traps that he should expect, he didn't know how to escape if he ever got into one. The only thing he could hope was that this master wasn't outright hostile and actually wanted a proper conversation.

They were on the road to the hill of Kuoh Town now. Unlike the last time when Issei and Lancer went to the hill to test the chance of him having a Sacred Gear they were much slower. Issei believed both Lancer and Saber were pretty quick, even Himejima could probably use some kind of magic to move faster but they all walked along with him so he could keep up the pace.

"This hill… I believe it has some leylines lying around but it is too exposed so I haven't taken advantage of it." Himejima said.

"Leylines?"

"Yes, to be able to gather more mana for the purpose of researching and employing higher level magecraft it is necessary for a mage to build his workshop on a leyline. The shrine where we are staying has a small leyline which is the reason why I live there. I wonder if this master plans to use this hill as their base…"

They continued to walk deeper until Lancer materialized with her armor on, her lance was in her hand. Next to Himejima Saber did the same.

"Welcome everyone! Thanks for coming!" They were greeted by a playful voice. Issei quickly turned to the direction of the sound which was above him. On one of the trees he could see two figures, both of them were cladded in kimono, blue and black respectively. One of them had black cat ears and two cat tails while the other one had fox ears and one fox tail.

"I'm glad that miss priestess and dumb boy could come here to see me!" The black cat person said. Her laugh made her huge breasts jiggle which hypnotized Issei for a few seconds.

"She must be Caster. But… no, one of them is Caster and the other one is the Master. However I can't find out which one is the servant. Their aura are too similar to each others." Saber said.

Saber couldn't distinguish between Caster and her Master? Damn! Trying to guess a servant's real name based on their appearance and skills was already hard but if they didn't even know which one was the Caster that they should observe would make a fight more difficult.

"Right, we have come as you asked us to. Would you mind telling us which one of you is Caster's Master?" Himejima said.

"You are free to guess which one of us is the Master." The fox person taunted. "But for sure those party tricks you got won't help you find out the truth little priestess."

"... What do you want?" Issei could hear out the anger in Himejima's voice.

"Ah you guys are no fun, going straight to the main dish when you just arrive. Well alright alright, hm let's see… I have a proposal for you. Before the Masters of Berserker and Assassin asked me to join them. Those two are strong, Berserker is rumored to be a strong but hard to control servant yet they have little problem over that. The masters are not pushovers either. If they see a chance they won't hesitate to kill all of you. Ah but don't worry I haven't agreed to join them yet."

"You mean you want to join us?" Issei asked.

"Oh no no no dumb boy. There is no reason for me to join any of you, yet. You are the enemies of Berserker and Assassin's Masters. Two against two. I won't butt in your fights and won't ally with you until the balance is broken." The black cat person smiled.

"So you want to sit in one place then prey on the side that becomes weaker after the fights!"

"Yes, isn't that better for all of us? You defeat either Berserker or Assassin and you will gain a valuable ally. Sound like a good deal to me." She finished in a naughty voice.

"The similar goes to our enemies. If Saber or Lancer is defeated then you will join them to crush us." Himejima replied.

"Of course of course. We are not good at fighting so if we have to pick why not the stronger team no? If you were in our shoes you would do the same thing as us so stop complaining." The fox person said.

"You don't have a choice miss priestess. Now I know it's not easy to trust a stranger, much less your would be enemy so I will give you a bonus: Berserker and Assassin's Masters are related to the church."

"The church?"

"The rest is up to you to figure out. Now it's time for us to leave!" Both of them disappeared as if they could enter spirit forms. Himejima gestured to Issei that they would discuss about this more once they got home.

"Can you guys go home first? I have to search for my bicycle here." Since they were already here Issei might as well retrieve his bicycle.

"Sure, but don't be too late."

With help from Lancer they went back to search for the battlefield last time. Since Caster and her Master were here Issei thought that Berserker and Assassin shouldn't be here, otherwise they be fighting now.

"I found it Issei." It didn't take her long to find what they was looking.

"Thank you Lancer."

The bicycle was in one piece but there were cracks here and there. Overall he could use it to ride to school but it needed to be patched up a bit. The road down the hill wasn't suitable for a bicycle so once again Lancer rode on it with Issei on the back seat. She had released her armor so nobody would suspect them. With Lancer's speed they soon arrived at the shrine.

After dinner the discussion began with Himejima.

"Now that Caster has revealed themselves I think that we can make a move now. Because they are going to stay neutral we should treat them as such from now on. However once we defeat Berserker and Assassin we should go straight to them immediately. After all the goal of this war is to defeat the other servants until only one left."

That was true… But the way she said it made him uncomfortable, knowing that his time was running out and the day Lancer had to fight Saber would come.

"Don't worry Hyodo. Since you don't have a wish once there are only Lancer and Saber left we don't have to fight. You just need to use all 3 command spells to cut the connection with Lancer so she can disappear naturally. Then everything will return to normal in this town." Himejima assured him.

But what about Lancer's wish was what Issei wanted to ask… yet he couldn't say it. He was the one who decided that they would hole up and play a defensive role to survive. His goal and Lancer's goal were different at the core, she wanted to seek out the grail for a wish and therefore she answered the call while he was simply dragged into this fight.

Was it fair for Lancer? Issei knew if he asked her so she would dismiss it because she had pledged to be his knight. Lancer was the loyal knight that wouldn't demand anything from her master.

"Next is the identity of Caster, from their appearances I have no doubt that they are youkai, a nekomata and a kitsune. However there aren't many famous nekomata so I'm not sure on who could be a servant. However I do know three famous fox spirits, the kitsune in blue kimono is likely the Caster if my hunch is right."

"Who are those three fox spirits?" Issei vaguely recalled his knowledge about the kitsune but couldn't find out a notable name.

"The first is Tamamo-no-mae who is from a Japanese tale, the second is Daji who is a youkai commanded by Nuwa and the third is the Kumiho from a Korean folklore. Those three are famous for their brutal and mischief against humanity in their countries. If we have to fight one… I'm afraid it is true to her words that my Onmyodo wouldn't work on them."

"Don't worry master, they have their tricks and we have our art. My swords will cut down any magecraft, senjutsu and youjutsu from that fox and cat!" Saber tapped on Himejima's shoulder.

"That's right. To us Caster has a disadvantage as we of the Knight have Magic Resistance skill which will let us take on their magecraft. Even if they have stronger type of magic the output will be reduced when it hits us. Our weapons too can deflect or block their magecraft with little problems and in general Caster is not a good melee fighter." Lancer added in confidence.

"If you two said that then when the time comes let's quickly finish Caster and her Master. Our next issue is what they reveal to us. Frankly I didn't think that the church would be involved that deep in the holy grail war. From what I know they are the observers, not the players. Then again given the history of the church and the holy grail it wouldn't surprise me that they actively want to have their own grail in their collection."

Of course, the holy grail was famous for being linked to the image of the prophet.

"What can we do? Do we just assault the church?"

"No, first we have to gather information. I don't want to meet any Christian priest but we don't have a choice, I will go to the new church tomorrow to see if they're hiding something. Issei you stay here to watch the shrine, Caster must have spied us so it's a matter of time before she learns of our base. We have to be careful if we don't want her to leak that information to Berserker and Assassin's Masters, I do not trust her to keep the information by herself. It is more than likely that they will sell us out if they think that Berserker and Assassin can finish us. Losing our base would be difficult if we want to get to the final round."

"What if they just come to fight you when you arrive at the church then? It is not uncommon for mages to use underhanded tactics when they want to win." Lancer asked.

"I don't think so… Fighting in broad daylight in front of the church is a serious matter. They might go around and keep their hands clean but a direct confrontation like that won't end well for them. Remember that Caster said the masters were related to the church, not the priest at the church is a master. In any case Saber can help me escape, just be on standby if the worst situation happens. I will call you by phone."

"Alright." Issei nodded.

"If there is nothing else then let us take a rest.

"Wait Himejima, there's something I want to ask you." Issei scratched the back of his head.

"What is it?"

"Can I borrow your kitchen? And permission to use the ingredients too."

"Hm… I don't see any problem with that. Just remember to clean up your mess or you won't get any breakfast or dinner from me."

"Thanks!"

The shrine might be huge and have several rooms but there was no television so there was little to do for entertainment in the evening. Himejima also retreated to her room so Issei couldn't chat with her.

"Might as well go to bed early." He took a bath, did his homework and went to bed. The next day would be a busy day for him.

"Good night Issei."

"Good night Lancer."

* * *

 **1\. Servant: Lancer**

 **True name: Arthur Pendragon**

 **Master: Issei Hyodo**

 **Strength: C**

 **Endurance: B-**

 **Agility: B-**

 **Mana: B-**

 **Luck: D**

 **NP: ?**

 **2\. Servant: Saber**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Akeno Himejima**

 **Strength: B**

 **Endurance: B**

 **Agility: B**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: C**

 **NP: ?**

 **3\. Servant: Berserker**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: B++**

 **Endurance: B++**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: D++**

 **Luck: C++**

 **NP: ?**

 **4\. Servant: Assassin**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: Iron Maiden (?)**

 **5\. Servant: Rider**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Asia Argento**

 **Strength: D**

 **Endurance: A+**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: A+**

 **NP: ?**

 **6\. Servant: Caster**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Kitsune? Nekomata?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: ?**

* * *

 **AN: This story is made before the Camelot chapter in FGO is translated so Lancer Artoria might have a different background and personality unlike the one in Nasuverse.**


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

Chap 7

Now that he knew this dream belonged to Lancer Issei became curious. What was life back then? What had Lancer gone through to become the knight that chose to protect him? The legend of king Arthur was famous but there was no detail about the king being a female! Therefore it should have something that they didn't put in the book. He was interested in learning those details in her past. It wasn't like he was watching the memories without permission anyway.

Today he and the dragon stood on a tall hill. The sun was about to disappeared behind the mountains. Although the dream played like a movie and he couldn't interact with anything Issei could somehow feel the strong wind that blew over the hills. He wanted to admire this beautiful scenery yet something caught his attention: black smoke rising up from a certain location. When he looked down on the field below there was a burning village, corpses and broken houses could be seen everywhere in that place. The villagers were executed and some of them were taken hostages, mainly young men, women and children. The culprits were dressed in leathery attires, they looked rather huge compared to modern men. Only some of the stronger-looking soldiers had proper armors but to be honest those weren't really armors but crude metal plates that slapped together. In the middle of these barbarians the biggest guy stood out the most. Issei had no doubt that was the commander. His face was full of scary scars and he had a unique set of dark green armor with cracks and holes, in his hand was an axe that almost as big as Issei himself and his body was almost made of muscles. They were standing too far so Issei had no idea what that guy was talking about, not that he would understand their language in the first place.

The barbaric army chatted and laughed. They pointed at the villagers in a mockery manner, the soldiers were shouting one to another to loot whatever could be taken from the houses. The stolen goods were carried to the wagons that were guarded by multiple soldiers. Some of the barbarians began to harass the more better looking women, some even went for the children. Issei wanted to throw up when they did that.

[Humans have never changed no, all creatures that breathe and live always have that domination instinct within their hearts. The strong conquers the weak and is free to do whatever they want. Such is life.] The dragon said in a solemn tone.

I find them disgusting.

[Of course, but that was the way they were raised and lived. The human in your age is raised up properly and is taught the moral codes so they won't act like savages. What you are watching is a distant memory of the chaotic past that is still lurking somewhere in the modern world, of the place where the light of civilization hasn't touched yet.]

Issei sighed. There was nothing the helpless villagers could do. It was hard for him to look at those barbaric acts so he turned his head to the other side, hoping that he would see something that would distract him from these crimes. At the corner of the east there was something coming. It started as a small dot and slowly turned into humanoid figures on horses. They ran faster and faster, speeding up toward the barbaric army. When they finally came close enough Issei could see that they were an army of knights, their flag was of a red dragon symbol. The armored knight in lead was on a white horse, when Issei squinted his eyes he recognized in the knight's hand was the very same lance Lancer had, there was a notable sword on the hips too. The king had come to the battle.

The barbaric army rushed into a simple formation and ran toward the knights to intercept them but there was nothing they could do against the force of the cavalry. Like a raging river the knights charged through them with their lances, killing several barbarians in one attack. They didn't stop there but turned around and continued to charge into the barbarians who couldn't do any meaningful damage to their enemies. Lancer had gone straight to the commander who was swinging his axe around to take a few knights down. With one charge her lance pierced through his neck, ending his life in one strike. The barbarians who saw that became panic and began to run away, abandoning their comrades and all the spoils of war that they got from the village. The ones who weren't fast enough fell to the ground, they were trampled under their comrades and the hooves of the knights without mercy. Soon the field was filled with new corpses and blood.

The captured villagers shouted and cheered to the knights who came to their rescue but their relief didn't last long, for the reinforcement of the barbaric army had come. There were giants, monsters, golems and even more barbarians were coming down for them, an unbelievably large army. With one look anyone could see that the knights of the king were outnumbered. Even if their weapons, discipline and personal attack power were better than the barbarians they couldn't make a dent against this gigantic army. The knights quickly took whoever they could on their horses and retreated. The few villagers who didn't receive help from the knights ran along with them but they couldn't match the speed of the horses and so were left behind. It was a matter of time before the barbaric army caught up and massacred everyone.

Right in the darkest hour Lancer had her horse run back, when she reached a certain distance she made a u-turn and started to charge back at the invasion force. Her white horse ran toward the barbaric army which showed no sight of stopping, they screamed their warcry as they drew their weapons. She too raised her lance as the dozens of metal bands unraveled itself to reveal a pillar of light inside and now she pointed that lance made of light toward her enemies. Her white horse galloped even faster, it moved so fast Lancer and the horse blurred into a single drill of light. When she crashed into the barbaric army there was a second sun on the field and then it exploded, burning everything around it. The explosion sound was so loud Issei felt like he should be deaf by now as he unconsciously shielded his eyes from the light.

When the sun had finally disappeared behind the faraway mountains the pillar of light from Lancer's hand also went off, layers of metal bands slowly covered the core until it resembled the shape of a lance again as she dismissed it. On the large field no barbarians could be seen, even the giants, monsters and golems in the back were completely annihilated by the light of the lance. Lancer was the victor. King Arthur had won this battle.

[Does that look like a win to you?]

…Huh?

[Look again, this time don't just look at the king but also everything around her.]

Even though the enemies were defeated the hills and the field that surrounded the village were all destroyed. The land was now painted black with patches of fire and multiple great craters. No matter how one looked at it the land couldn't be used anymore. No crops, cattles or men could live off this dead land. It was not an exaggeration to say that the lance in her hand for the sake of protecting the people had turned this landscape into a part of hell. King Arthur had succeeded in defending her kingdom but at the cost of losing a part of it.

[Absolute power is a blessing and a curse at the same time. Remember that well.]

Her white horse, cape and armor were dusted by the gray ashes of her enemies but there was no change in her graceful and solid movement when Lancer slowly trotted back to her knights and the survivors from the village. Most of the knights had their helmets on so he couldn't see their expressions but the ones on the villagers were clear.

There was no grateful smile, no admiration, no thankful cheer. Only fear. The only reward for saving them that the villagers gave her was the fear of her power.

 _How many times had king Arthur gone through this when she ruled Camelot?_

The dream was over. Issei opened his eyes to the ray of sunlight, he blinked for a few times to fully adjust to it. His mind was running wild with countless thought that headed into no clear direction. He continued to stay on his futon for a few minutes then he turned his head to the left and saw that Lancer was still sleeping soundly. She showed no sight of waking up but he had no doubt that if he greeted her she would answer him immediately.

Issei quickly shook his head. There was nothing he could do to change her past, he shouldn't think too hard on that but to focus on what he could do.

"Good morning Issei."

"Good morning Lancer." He rushed off to the bathroom to prepare for his workout. There was a strange feeling in his heart that he wanted to wash away immediately.

The workout was similar to yesterday. Issei did a round of 50 pushups and then some more until his arms couldn't take it anymore while Lancer watched over him. They only had little time in the morning so Lancer didn't teach Issei swordsmanship but told him that they would do it in the afternoon. Last night Himejima had told Issei about her plan to investigate the church and their connection with the hostile masters so she left home early with Saber. Before that she had made sandwiches for them so they still had breakfast.

Issei opened the container to check the sandwiches. "She must be in a rush, all of these are premade ingredients." There were lettuces, tomatoes, slices of cheese and bacon. Still Issei wouldn't dare to complain. The sandwiches tasted nice, they didn't have that unnatural flavor of those he bought from a convenience shop. Lancer was definitely having a good time with her breakfast. She ate fast but chewed hard, she had to be enjoying the rich taste of the salty bacon, the creamy cheese and the fresh vegetables. When she was eating Issei decided to use this time to cook lunch. It was a shame that he couldn't buy lunch at school for her but this would do for now.

Issei opened the large refrigerator's door. "Let's see… Ah I should have borrowed a cookbook from the school's library yesterday." Issei totally forgot it even though he planned to cook before lunch. With one look he could see that there were multiple ingredients, some of them he couldn't recognize so he just grabbed those he was most familiar with.

"I can make… omelette rice with these…" It was one of the most basic dishes, just fried eggs over cooked rice. Simple right? Any high schooler could do it! Issei tried to follow what he remembered from watching his mother when she was in the kitchen. First he used the rice cooker to cook the rice, thankfully Himejima didn't go full traditional and used a modern electric rice cooker so it was easy for him to cook rice. While rice was being cooked he cracked the eggs then beat them in a bowl. Next he moved to heat up the pan. "Put garlic and pour some oil in… then put the eggs in."

"Are you cooking lunch Issei? I recall that last night you asked Himejima's permission to use the kitchen." Lancer asked, she should have finished breakfast by now.

"Oh? Yeah, I want to try to cook my meal you know." Better not to tell her that he had to save money for other purposes.

"I'm looking forward to your cooking." Lancer smiled.

Issei looked at the clock and saw that he should be going to school soon, he quickly put the rice onto the omelet and wrapped it up. The final product was put into a plastic box so he could put in his school bag along with two water bottles in the refrigerator.

After locking the door Issei rode to school on his bike with Lancer who was in spirit form on the back seat. It would be nice if she could hug him from behind while they were on a bicycle. Issei really wanted to feel those divine breasts on his back. He got to try that one day.

After parking his bike Issei walked to his class. It was more lively than usual, his classmates were chatting about a certain topic. They were loud about it so he didn't need to eavesdrop them.

"Hey did you hear about the gas leak incident last night?"

"Yeah, it was terrible! A dozen of people were killed and more were hurt! I'm glad that my family don't live in that area near that place."

Since there was no television in the Himejima's residence and Issei didn't have the habit of reading newspaper he had no idea what was going on.

"Wait hold on a gas leak?" Issei asked that classmate.

"Yeah? It was over the news channel this morning dude! A gas leak which led to an explosion incident in the residence area. You know the place with that convenient store where they sell huge takoyaki? Yeah that place. Speaking of which isn't your house somewhere nearby? Are your family alright Hyodo?"

"Y-Yeah we are fine." The truth was that he had no clue of what happened. For a second he feared that his family was hurt. Thankfully the teacher came so the classmate didn't ask him more.

"Well as you know there was a terrible accident last night. When you come home remember to check everything for the sake of safety. We don't want another tragedy because of our negligence now do we?"

"Teacher teacher I heard that it wasn't a gas leak but an act of terrorism! They were there last night to destroy-"

"Be quiet! Don't spread nonsense around like that to scare off people! Now class open your book to page…"

What that student said made him even more cautious. During class Issei's mind was filled with many things from Lancer's history to his family's safety. He knew it was best to minimize the contact with them but he couldn't help but worry for his parents. Were they fine? Did something happen to them? He knew he had to go back to the shrine to watch over their base so he couldn't visit his parents but still. It was difficult for him to concentrate on the lessons as he kept thinking about what to do.

When break came Issei headed straight to the tea club room only to find out Himejima had left school earlier. Obviously she wouldn't spend the entire day at school if she wanted to investigate about the other masters. With no other choice he reluctantly went to that empty room to have lunch. After making sure that the door was shut tight and the windows were closed Lancer entered her physical form. Issei pulled over a cardboard box and put his lunch on. However he didn't eat it but pulled out his cell phone to call his parents. Usually at this time they would be both outside so it was a slim chance that his mother took the call.

"Mom! Are you alright? I heard that there was an explosion near our house last night!"

"We are both fine Issei! We didn't hear the explosion last night but the neighborhood was fine."

"Thanks Heaven that both of you are fine." Issei left out a sigh of relief. There was no way he could be participating in this war when his parents weren't in safety.

"Don't worry about us. Focus on your study alright? Remember not to read your porn when someone is around you."

"Mom!"

"I have so many things that I want to ask you, especially about what you have done in the last two days. Since my son is a useless pervert I can't help but worry when you live with your senior at school. You didn't fool around her did you?" His mom asked.

"No! Stop thinking about me like that!"

"I gotta go shopping now Issei. Remember to come home this weekend! If it's possible do your best to invite the senior over for dinner!" His mom said jokingly then hanged up.

He put his cell phone back into the pocket. Now that his parents were safe he didn't have to worry too much about them.

"It's a good thing that your parents are safe Issei." Lancer smiled to him.

"Thanks, although… Well I will think about it later. For now let's dig in." Issei divided the omelette rice into two parts and gave one portion to Lancer. Now that he had a clearer view on his product he could see that the omelette wasn't beautiful as he imagined. Some parts were overcooked as they had the darkish color. He also forgot to bring ketchup and soy sauce so it was a bit bland to him no, in fact it was bland because he forgot to season the eggs with salt. He just remembered the big parts and forgot the small details in cooking. Turned out cookery wasn't simple as he thought even for simple dish. When Lancer took a bite he could only scratch his head in hoping that it wouldn't taste too bad for her.

"H-How is it?" That was embarrassing for an attempt to impress Lancer with his cooking.

"It's not bad, certainly not something on Himejima's level but it's much better than what I had back when I was alive. You have no idea when you had to go through the same tasteless dishes everyday." Lancer took another piece of the omelette. "For a knight it is important to eat, the nourishment and the life within the food remind him that he is alive. By consuming food he becomes stronger in order to protect what is holy and precious to him. That is my belief. However the quality of the food we had was horrible. Actually 'horrible' isn't sufficient to describe the food. Even though I should be grateful that I had something to keep my stomach full there was little joy in meal times. We had to resort to stuffs like vinegar to make some of the food edible and really Issei, I don't want to use vinegar as sauce anymore. Sometimes I became too worried that my people had to go through meals like what I had everyday and they still had to farm and work to keep up the tax." Lancer made a sad face when she told her story.

"It was hard to think that you could eat such nice food with multiple types of sauces to enhance the taste everyday in this age. I'm glad that in the future people don't have to suffer the same thing as we did in the past."

"I see." Issei knew the food was crappy back in that age but to hear it from Lancer really opened his eyes. Still despite having terrible food Lancer's body definitely had absorbed all the nutrition in the most efficient way so those breasts could grow to their maximum potential. Praise be the divine breasts of the king!

"I'm happy that my master spent his time to cook lunch for his servant so please do not feel discouraged that your cooking skills aren't as good as Himejima's. If you keep learning with time you will improve for sure. I will be looking forward to having the same dish when you have mastered the culinary arts." Her smile lightened up Issei's heart as they continued to eat.

Because Himejima wasn't at school the activities of the tea club seemed to be less lively. There weren't any loud chattings in the next room. They had finished lunch and started on their drinks. Occasionally he would glance at Lancer's face. The image of the people cowering in fear when Lancer came to them after the battle kept playing in his head. He wanted to hate them for doing that: rejecting their savior after she just saved them but he couldn't. Because anyone would shake their legs in fear for their lives when they witnessed that display of power. The lance in the king's hand was a formidable power-the light that brought absolute destruction upon her enemies. There was no denying that she did a good job as a king to protect her people and yet the people couldn't stop thinking that if they did something wrong they would be the next victims of that very same lance.

It didn't matter if the king had no intention of punishing her civilians. People naturally thought the rulers with powers would lash out at them if they weren't pleased with what they did. They had no way to know what was on the king's mind and neither the king was capable of completely understand her subjects. The people would continue to live in fear for their lives because of the enemies and the king.

That was why even though the king had fought hard to defend her kingdom people wouldn't accept her with all their hearts. On that day she had the helmet cover her face but it made Issei wonder what she was thinking when she saw the people she saved returned her with that kind of expression.

Was she sad, or angry? However there was one certain thing.

'She must be hurt inside when they acted as if she were a brutal tyrant.'

"Issei?"

"Eh yes? What is it Lancer?"

"You seem to be in deep thinking, what is on your mind?"

"Ah um… I'm worried about the incident that happened last night near my house. Also-" He quickly changed the topic. "Earlier my mother told me to come home on weekend. It is not out of expectation that I should go home once in awhile. However I don't think this grail war will be over by then." He scratched his head.

"I see. You are afraid that you might be spied and the hostile masters could take your parents hostages."

"Yes… Currently we are living in that shrine for that very reason. I don't want my parents to get dragged into my problem. Anyway let's leave it for now, I will think up something by the weekend." That was for the best. He wanted to hear good news from Himejima after her investigation but to be frank that was asking too much. It was hard to believe that they could defeat both Berserker and Assassin's masters before the end of the week.

"Issei, I have a question for you."

"Yes please go ahead." He took a sip from his bottle.

"Issei, is there any accident like this one before in this town?"

"Hm… I don't think so. This is the first time I heard that people died because of a gas leak. There weren't any accident as serious as this one before. Even the worst ones usually resulted in wounded."

"Then I am afraid that it's not a normal accident." Lance said in serious tone.

"What do you mean?"

"We servants usually take mana from the masters and the grail. In a battle the ones with more mana will have an advantage over the ones with less. As you know servants use mana to move, to fight, to heal, to perform skills and to use noble phantasms-"

"Therefore the ones with a lot of mana will likely win a fight. It is similar to resources such as ammunition or gas."

"Correct. But there are other methods to get more mana, one of them is murder. By killing human servants can absorb their lifeforce and gain a supply of mana."

Issei was shocked to hear that.

"That's why my instinct told me that it wasn't an accident but someone, could be a servant or a master, was going on a killing spree to gather mana to prepare for this war."

"But that means people will know about the homicide! The police would conduct an investigation and-"

"They won't. Remember why the church is involved in this holy grail war Issei? It is their job to cover these cases. To the mages who only care about themselves common folks are but a nuisance. If the action benefits them in certain ways they wouldn't hesitate to deploy it. This gas leak incident did kill civilians… Forgive me but it doesn't look like a coincidence when we are in the middle of a holy grail war."

He couldn't believe it. It was one thing when the masters would use dirty tactics against other masters to get an upper hand but to drag innocents in just like this was unbelievable. It was too cruel.

The bell rang so Issei hastily cleaned up his lunch to return to class but he had no interest to focus on the lessons, not when he just learned that his parents could be in danger. He had met all the masters but Archer's and among them it seemed like either Berserker or Assassin's master was the culprit if Lancer's instinct was true. The nun didn't look like someone who could harm a fly if she could help it. Caster might be a bit rude but they were more of a naughty type who likely would pull a prank on someone than killing innocents. Besides they should be using the leyline what in the hill right? No reason to kill people to gather mana right? Archer's master… He had not met that one so Issei had no idea, if they were the culprits then he would feel very cautious even if Himejima said that they weren't the enemies.

Sometimes he would look out of the window to see if there was any black cat but there was none. Perhaps Caster and her master stayed true to their words of staying neutral until one side was weakened. When school was over Issei was still debating what to do. It was impossible to tell his parents the truth, obviously. To convince them to leave this town for a few months or so would be insane.

'So… The best way to protect my parents is…' He moved his bicycle to the school gate.

"Issei, someone is watching us." Lancer whispered.

"Who?" He didn't search for that person, knowing that anyone would get suspicious if he acted out of place.

"That guy over there. If my memory serves me right it is the same person who kidnapped you."

He had a chill hearing that. Before that mage had planned to kill him to summon a servant and now he had come back. Issei had no doubt this guy was going to do something terrible.

"For now let's lead him away from the school. Lancer are you sure that guy is stalking us?"

"Yes, he has just moved now. He's following us."

Issei slowly rode his bicycle. There was no way he could return to the shrine now. If this guy learned about their base then he could sell the information to the hostile masters. After all Issei was the one who 'stole' a servant from him, no way this mage would let him get away without a fight.

"Lancer I'm going to get to the abandoned warehouse, when you see no one in the vicinity go grab him." The hill was closer but that was the territory of Caster now. They shouldn't cause a ruckus there if they wanted Caster and her master to keep up the neutral stand.

"Understood master. I will give you direction if needed."

The journey to the abandoned warehouse wasn't pleasant. Issei could pedal faster but he was afraid that the mage would grow suspicious and do something unexpected. Sweat rolled on Issei's back as he continued to ride through the town. Occasionally Lancer would remind him of the road and whether the mage was still following them or not.

30 minutes later Issei could see the warehouse. 'Just a little bit more.' He told himself. When he was almost there Lancer shouted to him.

"Issei he just ran now! He must have found out about our intention!"

"Shit! Do not let him get away!" The mage had known that Issei was a student in Kuoh academy. It was a matter of time before he broke into the school to search for his files and his house address would be found out. No way he would let them harm his parents!

The mage was fast. Even with his bicycle on maximum speed Issei could barely catch up to him. The mage had to be using magic to run at such speed. However that was nothing before Lancer. When she was sure that no civilians were watching she dismissed her spirit form and easily grab the mage's neck then quickly ran back to the warehouse.

Issei parked his bicycle at the corner then he walked to the mage who was being held at the neck by Lancer. However before they could interrogate that guy Lancer dropped the mage and pushed Issei away. Before he realized it Berserker had come out of nowhere to hit Lancer with his axe, she wasn't fast enough to equip her armor when the attack came. Lancer took the swing with her body and crashed into the other side of the warehouse.

"Oh look at me I'm so smart! I will lure this guy into an abandoned place then interrogate him! Has anyone ever told you that you are the stupidest fucker in this world you little piece of shit?"

Another man came into view from the door. He had a look of a psycho, in right hand was a light…? No that looked more similar to a hilt of a sword while his left hand had a handgun. Next to him was Rider and his master Argento. So Argento was with Berserker's master…

Rider wasn't in his priest robe but a bronze armor and a white cape with red crosses, in his right hand there was a sword. He didn't come with his mount but without doubt once they fought Rider would summon it.

The mage who managed to escape Lancer's grip picked himself up and ran to the psycho guy. Berserker's master however didn't seem to like that, he shot at the ground where the mage was and he had to jump back.

"What the hell you are doing Freed!?"

"The hell I am doing? Hey need I remind you what did we agree on?"

The mage seemed to want to kill Freed but Berserker was right there so he couldn't.

"Good. Remember that you are borrowing my servant so you could kill this piece of shit to take back your servant. But holy shit how could a mage be so fucking incompetent that you lost to a shitty brat? Even rookie exorcist could kill this brat in 6 ways to hell!" Freed laughed like a mad man. Even Argento became uncomfortable with his laugh.

"T-That wasn't my fault! I didn't plan to summon that servant! My catalyst should let me summon-" But he was cut off as Freed shot him. The mage had no choice but to dodge and block the bullets with magic. "Yada yada oh just shut the fuck up. My servant will kill Lancer while you kill this guy. You can do that yeah? No trouble killing a piece of shit no?" Freed said in an incredibly mocking manner.

On Issei's side Lancer had come back in full armor but he had no doubt that her wound had reduced her combat capability. If only he knew it was a trap for Berserker to follow them Lancer wouldn't take that sucker punch in order to protect him. Their enemies wanted the mage to fight Issei while Berserker took on Lancer. Issei knew the mage could kill him and even if he couldn't the psycho named Freed would just shoot him. He could only survive if Lancer protected him but with Berserker as her opponent it would be almost impossible to do so. Berserker was strong, his stats proved that he could kill Lancer if she didn't focus all of her attention on him. Issei being a burden to Lance would end up killing them both. Therefore there was no time to waste now.

[Boost!] He called out Boosted Gear and instantly activated it. Fatigue flooded Issei's body he held it back. Freed had stopped laughing and even Rider had Argento stay behind his back when Lancer confidently stood with swirl of power around her. Berserker turned to Lancer with his axe in ready. Issei had no doubt the biggest player in this room right now was Lancer. They couldn't underestimate her now.

"To me Duh Stallion!" Lancer grabbed Issei and jumped on the white horse that answered her call. Lancer knew he wouldn't be able to move when he used his Sacred Gear so this was the best way to protect him. In her top form Lancer wouldn't lose to any servant. Moreover her horse would give her maximum mobility and momentum force. This was the same horse of the famous Arthur after all. Berserker grunted and dashed toward Lancer with his axe raised.

What happened next was too fast for Issei to comprehend. All he saw was different images of Berserker being stabbed and flung away. He tried to block Lancer's attack with his shield but it was easily pierced by her lance. Soon Berserker was on his last leg and his master Freed was definitely in panic. Rider had already taken Argento farther from the battle between Lancer and Berserker, he was ready to defend any unwanted attacks from both sides.

"Fuck fuck fuck where did you get this strength!? The last time you could barely escape my Berserker so what the fuck!? How the hell could that Twice Critical of yours do all this shit!?"

Lancer charged into Berserker again but this time Berserker slammed his axe hard to the ground. The quake halted Lancer's pace a bit and Berserker was able to use that chance to escape her finish move. He landed not far from the mage and Freed. Berserker wasn't in good condition anymore. Issei and Lancer knew if they could just hit him one more time he would be out of the battle.

"By this command spell I order you to use your Noble Phantasm!" Freed screamed.

Berserker let out a shocking scream as he spun his axe into a black and red tornado. Somewhere in that tornado the mage was caught in the middle and shredded into minced meat. Freed had run away to Rider and Argento's place first to avoid Berserker's attack, he cared not for the life of that mage.

However that move wasn't needed. A noble phantasm right now would be overkill. Both Issei and Lancer fell on the ground as the white horse disappeared. The time was up, the Boost went away and so did Issei's Boosted Gear. He could hear Lancer's heavy breath under her helmet yet she didn't give up. She quickly put him behind her back and stood up to face the incoming tornado. Issei glanced to his left and saw his phone had been crushed. It had flew out of his pocket when he was on Lancer's horse during their fight against Berserker. He couldn't call Himejima for help now.

Lancer didn't have enough strength to block or parry that attack from Berserker. Even if she was in her top form the best thing she could do was to avoid it. However she couldn't afford to do it. If she dodged the attack Issei would get torn into pieces, her current strength and agility didn't allow her to carry Issei and dodge the attack. If she did that both of them would die in vain.

That's why… To charge forward was the only way to get out of this alive. Their objection was to survive and Lancer would make sure to complete that order. She raised her lance toward Berserker and ran into raging tornado. When Issei saw that he knew what to do.

"By this command spell I order you to use your Noble Phantasm Lancer!" He screamed. The command spell on his left hand burned for a second as the lance in Lancer's hands unraveled itself.

"Rhongomyniad!"

Yes, it was just like his dream. Lancer became one with her shining lance as she crashed into Berserker. A second sun appeared inside the warehouse, albeit smaller. When it died down only Lancer remained, Berserker and a large area of the warehouse had been burned to little particles. They had finally defeated that monstrous of a servant. However their victor didn't come without a price. To charge into a murdering tornado was unthinkable. Lancer was heavily wounded, blood was dripping all over her body. Her armor had too many cracks to count and a large chunk of her helmet was gone. Her legs was shaking and she couldn't hold her lance properly. It was only her will that she could stand up to continue to protect Issei.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The first thing Lancer did afterward was to block Freed's gun as he aimed for Issei. Even when she was almost out of mana Lancer could casually kill Freed with little trouble. Issei wouldn't worry about that now, he had other things to worry about.

"Fuck fuck fuck! How did you fuckers kill my Berserker just like that!? Fuck now that bitch is going to scream into my face for days! Fuck! And what the fuck are you two fucking doing!? Go kill that guy!" He told Rider and Argento.

That was what Issei feared. If only Boost lasted longer and Lancer managed to kill Berserker without resorting to her noble phantasm then they could still use it to defeat Rider. Issei had no idea who was Rider no, even if Rider wasn't a famous servant Lancer had no chance to come out of this alive. Argento mumbled something… Issei couldn't hear her, she held her cross in her hands and looked down as Rider walked toward Lancer who was breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry we have to fight in this state. If it's possible I would like us to engage in combat on horses. May God have mercy on you and forgive me for this." He raised his sword.

"I will be going out from the start to finish this as fast as I can. Ascalon!"

Rider pointed his sword at Lancer as some kind of magic hit her. He then rushed toward for the kill. Lancer tried to use her lance to block his sword but he pushed it away and slashed through her belly.

"Guh!" Lancer jumped back to avoid Rider's second attack but she wasn't fast enough as the last of her helmet and armor was crushed by Rider's sword. Issei used the last bit of his strength to crawl to where Lancer was. He knew it would be useless. A normal human couldn't do anything to a servant after all. He knew Rider's sword would just cut through his body and Lancer if he took the attack yet he couldn't stand it. Issei couldn't just sit in one place while Lancer fought for his sake.

Lancer almost fell down but she used her lance as an anchor to continue to stand. It was the end. Issei couldn't save Lancer, even with his Sacred Gear he couldn't do anything in real combat. He could feel tear in his eyes as Rider prepared to stab through Lancer's heart but from above something crashed through the roof and fell down on Rider. Immediately he jumped back and used his sword to block the newcomer's flurry assault on him.

"Rider!" Argento called out to him.

"Come forth Bayard!" A horse appeared behind Rider and he jumped on it, Rider returned to grab Argento and ran away. Now Issei noticed that Freed wasn't in the warehouse anymore. Bastard had escaped like a rat.

"Sorry I'm late. Let me carry her back to the shrine."

"You... are not going to chase them Saber?" It was Saber who came to their rescue.

"No, if we chase after Rider you two might get killed by Assassin." Himejima appeared. "Saber quickly carry Lancer and Hyodo back to the shrine. I will try my best to heal her."

When they returned to the shrine the first thing Issei wanted to do was to sleep but he couldn't do that. He forced himself to stay awake despite the headache to watch over Lancer. She had saved his life again and again, there was no way he could act selfishly when she was on the verge of death.

Himejima removed Lancer's shirt, underneath it was a huge wound that was darkened by blood. She pulled out multiple pieces of charms to heal Lancer but Issei couldn't see the gap of the wound closed. He was hoping that it was because he was tired that he couldn't watch the healing process properly. Himejima continued to use her charms and several kinds of magic to heal Lancer for almost an hour but it didn't look positive at all. When she was done Himejima let out a sigh.

"Sorry Hyodo, I have tried my best but her wound… It looks like a curse, Rider's sword has done something to Lancer that my magecraft can't heal her."

"... I understand..."

Himejima and Saber then quietly left him and Lancer in his room. Obviously to them it was the last moment for Lancer.

Issei bit his lips. Why he was so useless? It was because of him that Lancer suffered. He was too weak, he couldn't contribute to the fight. Now Lancer lay on the futon, her beautiful face winced from the cross-like gash on her body. A servant used mana to heal but Issei's was too pathetic and he couldn't provide enough for Lancer, that was the main reason why the wound just didn't close on top of Rider's noble phantasm effect.

For a moment Issei fell into despair as he watched Lancer slowly died away. He screamed from the bottom of his heart that he would pay for anything to save Lancer.

[I see.]

"Huh!?" Issei looked around for the source of the sound.

[Do not worry. It's me Ddraig. Your desire has reached the Sacred Gear and allowed more freedom to me so I can see what's happening now.]

"Ddraig please tell me if there is a way to save Lancer! Please I beg you!"

[These wounds… They are from a dragon-slayer weapon. Who did you fight against?]

"It was Rider, I think he said 'Ascalon' when he attacked Lancer."

[That is the name of the dragon-slayer sword of Saint George! No wonder why she is in such bad state. To someone like Lancer dragon-slayer weapon is a bane that she must avoid if she doesn't want to suffer heavily.]

He had no idea that Rider had such a noble phantasm. "Anyway can you save her?"

[Hm... ]

"Please just say it! I will accept any condition!" Issei became more impatient when he sensed Lancer's breath became weaker.

[A devil could save her, potentially. However you don't have anything to pay for that devil and at worst you could lose your soul. Another method would be sex.]

"What?"

[You didn't hear it wrong. The semen is a clump of mana and you can inject it directly into her body to provide resources for her body to heal.]

Sex with Lancer would be amazing but no way he could agree to it. Certainly Issei did have such a fantasy because Lancer was a beautiful girl. However he didn't want their first sex to be like this, not in this state when Lancer was on death's door... He didn't want to just have sex without love. Besides he was sure Lancer wouldn't agree to do it with someone like him and with her wound she could be hurt more if they did it.

[Or you could wank it off and make her drink your semen, that also works.]

"Is there really no other way?" He decided to ignore the dirty idea of having sex with Lancer.

[...There is. But you will have to face a consequence that lasts as long as you are alive.]

"Tell me about it."

[I am not joking when I said the word 'consequence'. You should not take this option lightly. How far will you go to save this person before you? I will remind you that you could still hide in one place to survive this war without her.]

Issei glanced at Lancer's painful face, he remembered her smile and their moments together. There was no way he could back down if he could save this wonderful person. It would be pathetic if Issei couldn't risk his life like Lancer had risked her life for him.

"For her. Anything."

* * *

 **1\. Servant: Lancer**

 **True name: Arthur Pendragon**

 **Master: Issei Hyodo**

 **Strength: C**

 **Endurance: B-**

 **Agility: B-**

 **Mana: B-**

 **Luck: D**

 **NP: Rhongomyniad-The Lance that shines to the End of the World**

 **2\. Servant: Saber**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Akeno Himejima**

 **Strength: B**

 **Endurance: B**

 **Agility: B**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: C**

 **NP: ?**

 **3\. Servant: Berserker**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Freed**

 **Strength: B++**

 **Endurance: B++**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: D++**

 **Luck: C++**

 **NP: Spinning Axe (?)**

 **4\. Servant: Assassin**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: Iron Maiden (?)**

 **5\. Servant: Rider**

 **True name: Saint George**

 **Master: Asia Argento**

 **Strength: D**

 **Endurance: A+**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: A+**

 **NP: Ascalon-The Blessed sword by which Force is slain**

 **Bayard-The Phantom War Horse**

 **6\. Servant: Caster**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Kitsune? Nekomata?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: ?**

* * *

 **AN: Back to back events really killed my time to write so I'm sorry for being late. I still haven't finished Camelot and now I have to farmed the daily too. I also didn't get Lancer Artoria from the Knight gacha so I'm depressed. Anyway hope you guys enjoy and continue to read this fic.**


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

 **Chap 8**

It was the same night Rider took his master Asia back to their base. They arrived around 10 minutes before Freed's return. The psycho murderer stuck out his tongue like a dog, he had to run all the way from that warehouse back to this place with all he got. His speed was no match for Saber so even if he slowed down a second she could easily cut him into pieces. It was by luck that they didn't decide to chase after him.

"Hm? Why did you come back like rats? Where's that mage? Didn't you tell me he would join us after killing Lancer?"

They were greeted by a black hair woman who Rider didn't want to be nearby at all. If he could he would kill her immediately along with Freed. It was for the sake of his master that he had to work with these heretics.

"Well you see-" Freed began to tell the black hair woman what happened, of course he hid some facts such as how he had to run away like a coward.

"What!? You said that Berserker was killed!?"

"Hey look it wasn't-"

"YOU LET YOUR SERVANT GET KILLED RIGHT AFTER A WEEK!?"

"Oh it's just a fucking useless dunce. Stop acting overdramatically!"

But Freed was slapped on the face so hard he crashed into the wall.

"Do you have any idea how many problems you just give me by letting they kill Berserker like that you piece of shit!? You are supposed to keep him around to guard this place when we enter the last stage of the plan!"

The woman who berated Freed conjured a light spear and threw it at him but Freed managed to dodge the attack. He quickly wiped the blood on his face and laughed.

"Problems that could be solved easily if you didn't act like a stupid bitch and let me summon the servant that I wanted! Instead I got that retard nobody knows who the hell he is, I bet ya ass still don't know who that fucker is. Because of that he is weak as shit. By the way these two fuckers were at fault too. If only they fought together against Lancer then Berserker wouldn't die like shit." Freed pointed his fingers at Rider and his master Asia.

"Don't be stupid, Berserker was actually a famous Viking when he was alive. Someone like you who never bothers with studying obviously has no clue who he is. Even if he is not strong in this land he would still be useful as a meatshield. You want to blame me for giving you that Berserker? Blame yourself you scumbag, if you didn't arrive late when we started the ritual to summon Berserker and Assassin you could have gotten what you wanted. Anyway we made Berserker stronger by applying a more powerful Mad Enhancement on him. In combat he would find it hard to distinguish between allies and enemies. That's why it's better to have Berserker fight alone." The woman then glanced at Rider. "Did you kill Lancer before Saber jumped in?"

"My noble phantasm gave her a fatal wound. Even if she miraculously survived that attack Lancer wouldn't be able to do anything within 1 to 2 weeks at least." Rider confirmed. That's right, his noble phantasm allowed him to cast dragon's trait onto the target then let him inflict massive damage since his sword Ascalon was a dragon-slayer sword with anti-dragon attribute. Indeed only a miracle could save Lancer from that wound.

"As expected from Saint George, you show no mercy on the enemies." That woman faked a smile. Rider couldn't help but feel disgusting toward her. "By the way you said that Lancer used her noble phantasm, did you recognize what it is?"

"It's Royroll-something. Tch what a shitty name for a shitty ultimate move." Freed scoffed.

"How incompetent. Tell me Rider, what was that noble phantasm?"

Rider shook his head. He knew the name of that noble phantasm and recognized what it was but he wouldn't tell the truth to this woman. Besides he wasn't sure which heroic spirit Lancer was since the legend he knew and the reality he faced didn't match up. Lancer could be a less famous servant who had inherited that lance from her family. Nonetheless if he could keep it as a secret to save Lancer and her master's trouble he would do it.

"I see. It's not that important anyway since Saber might be a bigger problem for us. You two go take a rest then. Since Berserker is dead we will be hiding for some time before moving to the next stage of our plan. The enemies knew your True Name so it will be better not to engage in combat in the meantime."

"Hey what about me? How long until I can summon the servant that I want?" Freed whined.

"What about you? Oh now you talk as if you were some bigshot who had done a great deal of task and deserved a reward. Do you mind if I remind you that you just lost to a kid who only managed to awake a Twice Critical of all things for a few days?" The woman glared at Freed.

"But that was not a Twice Critical! That useless shit cannot beat anyone!"

"Sacred Gear grows accordingly to the user but as we confirm that he is just a normal human without any training or magical heritage. Even the strongest Longinus would be useless in his hand. His servant just carried all his works and she is incapacitated now. The fact that you lost to him means you are treating this war like a game, which actually isn't something new with your personality." She shrugged.

"Oh come on, you know we need all the servant that we can get. And hey that's right! What if those brats use this chance to summon a new servant? You don't want to deal with 3 servants right?" Freed started to use his begging tone which only made him more pathetic.

"They won't. There's no way that wench will teach the brat how to summon when his servant just 'conveniently' dies. Killing off your competitors is a must in this war. If you think that kid is a threat then we can just send a message to the Mage's Association that he has a 'mutated' Sacred Gear. That's one ticket to put him in their lab." The woman laughed at that idea. "They always want to conduct more experiments on Sacred Gear, those lunatics."

"But we still need a Berserker to guard this place when we enter the last phase! Come the fuck on just let me summon my fucking dream servant!"

"Summoning a new Berserker, maybe. But you won't be the one who gets to be the master, seeing that you failed your task to keep him alive. Caster should be joining us soon since the other side will only have 1 servant left. Nobody has seen Archer but given that our base is heavily protected we cannot be sniped unless we step outside without any defense. Who is the servant that you keep saying that you want to summon anyway?"

"Heh that's a secret. You will be surprised when you learn that my servant is the strongest!" Freed boasted loudly.

"Then keep it to yourself. Now I have works to do."

"But-" Freed was cut off again as the woman quickly went away, uncaring of what he wanted to say.

Rider quickly took Asia back to their room before they had to listen more to Freed's whine. At first his master wanted him to have his own room but he refused. Rider would never leave Asia alone, not when they were with these wretched heretics. He had a feeling that if he was to leave Asia alone she would be hurt and he wouldn't be there right on time to save her.

"I'm sorry Rider… You have to do all the hard work for me."

"It is of no concern master. Please do not worry about me."

Asia bowed down her head. Rider knew with her personality she would feel extremely guilty for what they did to Lancer and her master. If Freed wasn't there she would offer to heal them both even when they were at war. She was not cut out for this violent conflict at all.

"Sister Asia, let us pray to the God." He patted her on the shoulders. "This too must be a trial from God that we have to do our best to overcome."

"Ah yes Rider. Yes, let us pray to the God."

His master needed the grail… Perhaps there would be a better way to achieve it without relying on that woman. The loss of Berserker was a blessing in disguise. Without another servant acting as a combatant it should be easier for Rider to make his move. However they were forced to fight Lancer and her master, he had little hope that Lancer would survive the morning after. In the beginning when they met Rider wanted to avoid fighting those two. But what's done was done, Rider would need a new plan if he wanted to protect his master. He kneed down together with Asia and both of them prayed to a small cross in the room, the only one that didn't get destroyed in their base.

May God give us salvation.

* * *

A dream could occur the moment one went into sleep. It was difficult to know when the dream began, usually one only knew after spending an uncertain amount of time in that dream. Currently Lancer was experiencing such thing. She found her at an unfamiliar park, a place that she had never visited when she was alive. Because of their connection it is possible for masters to see the memories of the servants in dreams and vice versa. It was the same reason on how her master figured out her true identity.

Lancer looked around and saw that it was the Kuoh town, the appearances of the houses didn't change that much so it was easy to recognize them. It was a nice morning, she couldn't feel the atmosphere but she knew it was a warm spring day. There were two children playing in front of her. With one look Lancer instantly knew the brown hair one was her master, the other one should be his childhood friend.

"I want to be a hero! I will defeat the evil and protect this world!" Her master declared, he raised his sword toy up to show his determination. It was a childish yet innocent attempt to impress his friend. Together they shouted and began to fight to defeat an imagination evil villain.

Lancer smiled. It was a pleasant dream. In fact all the dream about her master up till now had been normal. To her the experience was similar to reading about a daily story of a common family in a peaceful age. She was glad that Issei had a happy childhood. As a king Lancer wanted to build a country that would allow everyone to live without the fear of war, hunger and poverty. Such a goal was deemed extremely difficult if not outright impossible to achieve. A utopia that none could ever reach. She had done her best when she was alive but it wasn't enough. In the end Camelot fell, her knights abandoned her, her people were slaughtered by the invaders and there was nothing she could do for them.

King Arthur was famous for having the legendary Excalibur, she had enough power to destroy the entire Britain if she wanted and yet she couldn't protect the life of her nation. If others looked at it they might wonder why her enemies could continue to invade and raid her kingdom when its ruler held the absolute power that they couldn't dream to match.

The reason was simple: collateral damage. If Lancer used Excalibur and Rhongomyniad at full power to decimate her enemies eventually she would ruin a huge part of the land. The people couldn't live in the same land that had been burned by the destruction she brought forth. Her enemies learned that and so they advanced on the land where she couldn't use her weapons at full power or she would have to sacrifice her villages no, she had sacrificed the villages that were faraway and close to the borders for her knights. In her age knights were the symbol of strength and honor. If a knight wasn't allowed to fight for the glory on the battlefield he would have no tales to tell the people. A knight who didn't fight would be treated as a failure. That was the reason why she needed to have her knight army, no matter if they were strong or weak, fight on the battlefield.

Lancer was only a single person, she couldn't be everywhere to fight. Besides the human invaders there were also the supernatural beings which were a formidable force to her human army, that's why the Knights of the Round Table, people with extraordinary powers were necessary to protect her kingdom.

The knights talked behind her back, they criticized her for exhausting her own villages, ruining her people's lives in the process. They didn't understand that supply didn't come from nowhere and to ensure they all had the strength to fight the food had to be taken from those whose priority was on the lower list. But that was fine to her. A king had a duty to shoulder that burden.

Issei and his friend ran around the park for a few more rounds then they returned to their homes. The dream also ended there. Lancer opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she was still in the room that she and her master currently living. She was still alive no, King Arthur Pendragon had fallen, the person here was the servant Lancer. The sun had not risen up, she looked around and saw that her master was holding her hand. His hand was warm, it wasn't rough unlike her who had hold a sword longer than he had lived. From his hands Lancer could feel a strange feeling, it was similar to a sense of safety, something that she should be giving him as his knight.

Because Issei was still sleeping Lancer didn't move her body. She simply looked down to check on her wound. Last night she received a fatal attack from Rider, an anti-dragon noble phantasm. To an existence like her any anti-dragon weapons was dangerous, she could block or avoid but to let them touch her flesh directly it would be similar to bathing in magma. She had to wonder why she could survive that attack. Saber might help her block Rider's finish move but one hit was enough to eliminate her from this war. The majority of wounds that she had after the fight last night was healed, now they were just scratches. Lancer used her left hand to check the wound on her belly and found out it was healed somewhat. The deep purple gash had been replaced by a darkened yet shallow cut. Her internal organs weren't healed yet but it wouldn't be a big problem to a servant.

'This must be the work of the skill Blessing from the End of the World.'

Servants have class skills to compensate for the decrease in power when they are summoned in a holy grail war and personal skills that they have when they were alive. As the one who held the divine Rhongomyniad Lancer could remove negative effect or curses on her body, even strong anti-dragon effect could be removed if she was provided enough mana. The blessing should also prolong her life a little when she received a fatal attack. However that didn't explain why she could rapidly heal her wound. For servant mana is the resource for everything, when they are hurt they too use mana to heal themselves. Growing back body parts was not impossible if the master provided the magecraft and mana. Lancer took a small breath and checked her body entirely, she found out that her stats were no longer reduced by the lack of mana from her master. She quickly looked at Issei but couldn't see the Sacred Gear on his left arm. A more careful examination let her know that she was receiving lots of mana directly from her master and that allowed her wounds to heal at a very fast pace. Right now she might not be able to fight as she wanted due to her wound but once it was healed Lancer was confident that she would be the strongest servant in this war because of the absurd amount of mana from her master.

She looked at Issei's sleeping face again, wondering what he had done to be able to provide her this much mana. Issei was not a mage but a normal human, to be honest he had a very small pool of mana inside his body. When they made a contract he didn't even have enough mana to let her use her noble phantasm properly. She couldn't help but felt worry about it.

'I need to ask him once he woke up.' Lancer closed her eyes. 'It is a shame that this containment cannot hold all of my power. If I had my dragon core the demand of mana from combat wouldn't be a problem.'

They continued to sleep in their room until it was almost noon. Lancer was the first to wake up again with her master opened his eyes a few minutes later.

"Good morning Issei."

"Hm… huh? Lancer? You are alive Lancer!"

Issei wanted to hug her but he just remembered that she wasn't healed yet so he settled for a light touch on her shoulders. "I was worried that you wouldn't wake up!"

"Calm down Issei. I am here."

"Yeah…" He looked at her in teary eyes. "I thought I could never see you again."

"I am fine. This wound might hinder me but it shouldn't prevent me from fighting. Rather, I have a more important thing that I need to know. Tell me Issei, what happened and how did you save me?"

Issei became stunned for a second. "About that… You know Saber and Himejima came to save us right on time before Rider dealt the final blow then they took us back here. Himejima used her magecraft to heal your wound, it took her a lot of effort but it worked!"

'How naive.' Lancer knew her master was lying but she didn't press him for it. "Alright, I will thank her later then." That didn't change on her mind on finding out what he did.

"Yeah…" Issei stayed silent for a moment, he just kept looking at her. "Your wounds… Will they leave scars when you are healed?"

"They won't, a servant's body will always stay the same until it disappears."

"I see." Issei nodded. "I… really don't want to see scars on your perfect body."

"Nonsense. To choose to wield a sword is to accept the marks of battles. In my age scars are the proofs of battles that every knights should be proud to have. When I was alive I had participated in countless battles but this body never received any scar because of the divine artifacts that I carried with me. It is a shame for a knight to have no scar as it tells the folks that he has never charged into the enemies valiantly."

"Um sorry, I didn't know that." Issei scratched the back of his head. "You know… Are you hungry? I will see if there's something to eat and bring it here."

"That is unnecessary Issei. I'm not so weak that I can't move. We will be discussing about our next moves together with Himejima and Saber after all."

When she finished her sentence the door slided and Himejima came into their view, Saber was behind her.

"Hyodo, Lancer. I see that you two have woken up."

"Wow, you really did survive." Saber said.

Lancer nodded to them. "I thank you for saving me last night Himejima. If it was not for your magecraft I would not survive."

Himejima instantly glanced at Issei who slightly shook his head. Even a horse could see the 'Please don't say anything!' on his face. Himejima turned back to Lancer, pretending that she didn't do anything suspicious with Issei.

"I tried my best to heal your wound. The chance was low but it wasn't totally impossible. However it was only due to your luck that you could survive. You should thank your master for being there for you the entire night."

Lancer slightly nodded to her words.

"We will be having lunch now. If you can then let's eat together." Himejima left the room with Saber behind her.

"Thank you for watching over me Issei." Her master helped her up from the futon.

"I should be the one who thanks you Lancer. If it was not for you I would have been turned into minced meat yesterday." Issei shyly replied.

Together they walked to the dining room. Himejima and Saber had put all the dishes on the table. Today menu was curry which was something Lancer wanted to try. The one she had before at Issei's school was nice but in Himejima's hands it should taste even better. For normal people the digested food would turn into nutrition and went into their blood but for servants food simply got turned into little drop of mana hence why even if her internal organs weren't completely healed she had no problems eating.

"This dish is really delicious! I never had curry back when I was alive." Saber took a large bite.

"I agree. Getting summoned in the modern age where people can choose to eat many things is certainly a nice perk." Lancer gave her bowl to Himejima for another refill.

"Yes, snacks are easy to get, meat is in every meal. The future of Japan is bright."

Himejima had a small smile when Musashi continued to eat. It seemed that she had cooked more today. On her right side however Issei didn't eat much, he only had one bowl with some curry. His movements were also slower than usual.

"What's wrong master?"

"Oh sorry the food tastes great. I'm just feeling little light-headed so I can't eat much. Probably because I messed up my biological clock." He finished his bowl then went to wash his face.

When lunch was over they began the discussion.

"As we know last night Lancer had defeated Berserker so that's one less servant we have to worry about. On my side the investigation didn't go well." Himejima said.

"What did you find out about the connection between the church and the masters of Berserker and Assassin?" Lancer asked.

"The priest at the church-father Valper Galilei, is certainly hiding something. When I approach him he stuttered a bit before greeting me. Usually when a master loses his servant he can take refuge in the church but Valper told me his church isn't a place for that. From what he said Vatican won't protect the masters in this war even though it's their usual practice."

That sounded suspicious.

"However I couldn't find any clear evidence that he was working the masters for his own profit. Not until you two fought Berserker and his master."

"His name is Freed I believe." Issei said.

"Freed Sellzen, former exorcist of Vatican. He is said to be a prodigy but his bloodthirsty is out of control and he had killed more of his allies than the church's enemies. He was on the run and was assumed to be hiding until now. From the information I got in the past Freed had a close relationship with Valper, that man usually had Freed test out new weapons and gears made by him. It won't surprise me if Freed contacted Valper and told him to come here for a piece of the holy grail."

"So you are saying that the church is their base." Issei concluded.

"That could be the reason why Valper refuses to take in refugee. However I couldn't confirm it as the boundary of the church is too powerful. Any stealthy infiltration I could make is impossible without alerting the ones inside the church. My familiars couldn't enter the church either. If it's possible I would like destroy the church with Saber but that might provoke Vatican. The last thing we want is a bunch of exorcists after us while we are still in this war."

Lancer took a sip at her cup. Tea wasn't a commodity in her age but she was interested in it. The green tea in this east country certainly had a unique taste but she didn't dislike it. Everyone also stopped for a moment to had some bites at the snacks on the table before Himejima continued.

"For now we have a few options: we can track down Rider's master or Freed then find out where their base is, although it is better to assault the church once Lancer is recovered. Lancer how long will it take for you to full heal back to normal?"

"I will need a week at the minimum. The wound by Rider's noble phantasm isn't something to underestimate." Lancer lied. The truth was she only needed 2 more days until she returned to her top form.

"A week huh? That might be too long…" Himejima pondered.

"I didn't know your wound is that severe Lancer." Her master said. "Will you be alright?"

Lancer slightly nodded. In front of Himejima and Saber she couldn't tell him the truth but that was fine. To fool your enemies, fool your allies first.

"Tell me Saber, how strong is Rider?"

Saber closed her eyes for a few seconds to recall her encounter with Rider. "It's tough to gauge his skills. What we had back there couldn't be called a fight. However I could feel that he is better at defense than offense. There was some kind of aura that became more transparent when he returned to protect his master."

"Oh by the way Rider's true identity is Saint George, the sword he uses is Ascalon-an anti-dragon weapon." Issei added. "If I'm not mistaken he has two noble phantasm: the first one being his sword and the second one is the horse he summoned to escape with his master."

Saint George who was famous for killing a dragon in his legend. Lancer had to be careful in their next encounter if she wanted to win. Though she didn't expect her master to know about the true name of Rider. Issei didn't strike her as someone who was an expert in myth and history, after all Saint George wasn't famous outside of Christian works.

Himejima nodded at his words. "I see. That will change our plan, I don't want to risk a big loss when one of our servants can't use full power. Like you said Rider is not someone to be underestimated, his master Asia Argento has a Sacred Gear which specializes in healing. I don't think she has combat experience but it's best that we don't let our guard down when we fight them again."

A healing Sacred Gear… Lancer had seen a few during her life. With enough practice the healers could reattach severed limbs. Rider without doubt would rely on her for healing any of his wound. The fastest way to defeat him would be killing the nun before they could react. Lancer doubted her master would approve of that however.

"Asia Argento… To be honest I kinda don't want to fight her. She doesn't look like a bad person." Issei frowned.

"She might have a kind heart but her servant won't hesitate to cut down your servant Hyodo. Besides her allies are Freed an insane exorcist, I doubt Assassin's master is a decent person when their signature attack is a torture device. An innocent doesn't work with sociopaths. When she enters this war for the holy grail she has accepted any risk of death." Himejima said in a flat tone. "I suppose you could just kill Rider and capture the nun if you wish not to kill her."

Issei clicked his tongue but he didn't object to Himejima's solution.

"Our second option is to kill Caster and her master. Without doubt she has learned that the church side has 3 servants and we only kill 1 so the balance hasn't broken yet. I don't want to trust her words on that she would join whichever stronger side. However having her as a wild card also has its benefits."

"One thing I have been wondering, you said that Archer's master isn't our enemy. In that case where is he and why isn't he working with us?" Lancer asked.

"Archer and his master… You just need to know that they are not your enemies. They work from the shadow and will aid us when the time comes."

But that only made Lancer had bigger suspicious on those two. There's no telling if Archer truly wouldn't snipe her or her master when they weren't looking. Himejima had to be hiding something when she barely gave out information about Archer.

"Since you are not combat available you two should take a rest. I will get you a permission to be absent from school for this month, or at least until this war is over. We will see if I can figure out where is Freed's base in the meantime." Himejima began to clean the table.

"That's right Himejima." Issei said in a hurried voice. "Could you please go to the school and remove the address on my school's profile? Yesterday a mage managed to find out I'm a student at Kuoh High. I think they will sooner or later search for my file to learn where I live."

"Don't worry Hyodo. I have changed the address and telephone number on your profile with fake ones since your arrival. I know it's your best interest not to endanger your parents because of some unwanted mistakes."

"Thank you!"

"... Say Hyodo, do you have any plan to visit your parents?" Himejima suddenly asked Issei.

"Eh? Oh now you mention that I do need to visit them this weekend." Issei scratched the back of his head. "I was wondering how I should convince them so I don't have to."

"Don't. Use this time to visit your parents." She firmly said.

Both Issei and Lancer were surprised by that. "Eh? Is that okay? I mean, shouldn't I hole up here since Lancer is injured?"

"It won't be a problem." Himejima shook her head and collected the last cup of tea on the table. "The enemies will think twice before they make a move on you, especially when they just lost Berserker. The first thing they will do is not to attack you but to make sure it's not a trap to bait them. By the time they make a move Lancer should have recovered to protect you. Besides if you have time you should definitely visit your parents, spend time with them, talk to them about your days… That's what a son should do. You never know… Anyway that will be all."

Himejima quickly left the dining room. Saber didn't follow her but continued to stay, she was surprisingly quiet however.

"Well I will be leaving too. Feeling a little sleepy here." Issei excused himself then left for his room. Lancer quietly followed him.

When they were back at their room Issei fell on his futon immediately.

"Sorry Lancer, even though we have a promise to train in the afternoon…"

"Your health is more important Issei. Last night must be tough for you so take a rest now. We can start our training later."

Then her master just slept.

Lancer took a deep breath. She sat in seiza position on Issei's left to watched over him in silent. There was a change in Issei, small as it was. Lancer's instinct told her that it was the reason why he could provide her lots of mana to recover. She waited until she was sure that he had fallen into deep sleep that she lightly touched his left arm.

"I seek of you, the Legend of Welsh, please appear and tell me: what has my master done?"

Sacred Gear evolves accordingly to the desire of the possessor, more so when one is under pressure. Lancer had a reason to believe that Issei's had grown enough to be able to reply to others. She had never seen a sentient Sacred Gear in her life but magical artifact with a soul inside wasn't uncommon in the supernatural world.

[Greeting, the Once and Future King. I see that you want to find out why you are still alive.] Replied the dragon in an old and thick accent.

It was strange for her to talk to the Welsh Dragon in this state. When she was born the Red Dragon Emperor had long disappeared. She once believed he had migrated to the Reverse Side of the World after his duel against his rival the White Dragon Emperor until Merlin told her 'It was more complicated than that.' To think the famous phantasmal beast had been turned into a Sacred Gear for human to use...

"Yes, before my master Issei was but a normal human. His mana was so low nobody would ever think he could become a master in a holy grail war. I know he is hiding something from me but for sake of his survival I need to know the truth." Lancer stressed.

[Of course. That boy is not going to fool anyone when he wears his heart on his sleeve.] If she could see the dragon she imagined he would nod his head sagely. [As you know the modern human produces mana through magic circuits. For a commoner it is no surprised that he barely has any magic circuits thus can't provide a large mana supply for a servant. Moreover you were heavily wounded, the moment you ran out of mana to heal yourself you would disappear. That is not what Issei wanted to happen.]

"Which means…" Lancer raised her eyebrows.

[My power, Boost, allows me to double anything. Issei used it to artificially increase his magic circuits, permanently.]

Lancer was shocked to hear that. "But doesn't that mean-"

[You see, if he just doubles his magic circuits temporary like what he has been doing recently there will be strains on his body but it won't cause too much damage in the long term. However to increase one's magic circuits several folds is an unnatural thing, magically or not. It is impossible to grow more magic circuits when one grows up in the first place. By permanently increasing his magic circuits he has effectively cut down his life span. It is a price he has to pay to store more mana in body.]

There was nothing she could say, or rather whatever she said wouldn't be enough to return Issei's life span back to normal. She had to accept the sacrifice he made for her.

[Don't be too hard on yourself. It was a choice that he made consciously.]

"I see." She nodded. "Thank you for telling me Red Dragon Emperor."

[You can call me Ddraig. If there's nothing else I will go back to sleep.]

"...That will be all for now." Lancer didn't want to trouble the Legend of Welsh with trivial questions.

The room fell back into silence. The only notable sound was the breath of Issei. Lancer looked over the sleeping face of her master. She recalled the first time they met at that abandoned house. Before her was a young boy, injured and powerless. It was only due to the command spell on his hand that she knew he was her master and not the westerner mage. When she explained the holy grail war to him her master told her she should find another person to make a contract.

The knight in her saw him as a coward for not stepping up to face the challenge to reap the reward and bask in the glory of victory. The king in her understood why a civilian wanted nothing to do with danger, especially when he himself had no special power, training or a combat duty to fulfill.

Lancer however still chose him to be her master. There were 3 factors that made her do so:

First he understood what he was: a commoner, nothing more, nothing less. He wasn't so arrogant that he believed he would win the grail if he just had a powerful servant. That meant he would listen to her advice, it would also be easier for her to convince him to follow her ideas than working on his own.

Second his mana was subpar, he couldn't provide her enough mana to execute her noble phantasm properly. This meant when they cut the contract she would have only little time to find a new master. Lancer wouldn't risk it, at least not until she had found a decent mage. When she met Himejima the first time Lancer had considered to ask Issei to terminate the contract to become her servant. It was by chance that Himejima was the master of Saber that she never mentioned it to him. Her honor would be tainted when she broke the oath to protect Issei but for the sake of her goal she would gladly accept it.

Third when the now dead mage summoned her she saw nothing from him that could be the catalyst belonged or had a connection to her, that meant Issei was the catalyst himself. Over the time many things could happen, her master might be a descendant of one of the Pendragon, seeing that her father wasn't a faithful man to his wife, or he could have a Sacred Gear which was related to the Knights of the Round Table, a sword that was thought to be forged from the same material as Caliburn and had the same functions for example. If she could unlock his potential they would gain one more advantage in this war. Time proved her prediction was right, Issei was the one who hosted the legendary Red Dragon Emperor. That was the seal of the contract between her and Issei.

To use a commoner for her own benefits wasn't something Lancer was proud of. She was a king who had ruled Britain for years, manipulating others was but one of her methods in kingship. She felt no remorse nor joy when she dragged an innocent into a war of greed, in her mind her kingdom was far more important than the life of a stranger in a strange land. It was inevitable that the master had to pay a price when he was below mediocre yet kept participating in a supernatural conflict.

Lancer moved her hand over Issei's head, she gently caressed his hair. Issei himself might not realize it but he had the right idea. To be the last one standing is to win this battle royale. If he chose to hide in his basement until one servant was left her job would be easy. Because she had taken up an oath to protect him none could call her a dishonored knight by hiding in one place. At the moment however Himejima and Saber were the bigger threat to Lancer.

Truth to be told when they formed an alliance Lancer wasn't entirely comfortable with it but since Issei was more vulnerable for being a commoner it was the best option for them. To her Himejima was someone she could work with but not someone to trust. When they were at the warehouse fighting Berserker Saber only arrived after she was heavily wounded. Before Himejima once told her to scout the warehouse and Lancer was sure that she had a familiar to watch over the place. Issei couldn't contact Himejima at that time and Saber could locate them was enough of a proof to show that Himejima indeed wanted to eliminate her in this war by borrowing the hands of Berserker's master. By doing so Himejima didn't completely break the trust Issei had on her, Lancer had no doubt if she ever died Himejima would exploit her master's Sacred Gear to a degree, seeing that it had the power of the Red Dragon Emperor.

That was the reason why she gave Issei the idea that she would kill Himejima and Saber when they threatened him. The holy grail only had one wish for one pair of servant and master after all. When that time came Himejima would tell Issei to remove the contract then have Saber beat her, without a master Lancer had no chance against someone like Saber. However she would be the one who won the wish, Lancer would go far to make it come true. Saber's attire was of a Japanese and in this land she would receive a boost for being a famous native. To ensure her victory Lancer would need to weaken Saber, if Saber was wounded by a hostile servant that would be the best outcome she could hope for but she would also prepare to kill Himejima if she had to.

There was another problem with Rider, her master had shown the interest in Asia Argento. However since Rider was a reasonable servant she just needed to beat him fair and square. The problem came afterward whether or not she should eliminate the nun for good. One never knows who's the wolf hiding under the sheep's wool.

Her master would hate her for doing so but it would be fine, he would have his wish to fulfill his carnal desire and she would reach her goal. She didn't expect forgiveness nor sympathy from him in the beginning. If he used his command spell to make her kill herself…

'Then it is my fate.' Lancer closed her eyes.

When she chose to walk this path she knew there was no return. The farmer girl that day had abandoned her humanity to become the tool for the people. This was the life she had chosen and she would continue to go on until her end.

'Still, for a commoner to sacrifice his future for a ghost of the past…' Lancer instantly cut off that thought. What Issei did was no different from the soldiers who gave up their lives to extend the life of her kingdom. King Arthur should not prioritize one life over ten thousand lives.

Due to the changes in his body Issei had to take more rest, he only woke up when it was about time for dinner. His movements were dull, he lay on his futon for 5 minutes before blinking.

"How do you feel Issei?" Lancer asked.

"Oh uh I feel... great! A good sleep is a cure to fatigue!" He smirked. Lancer didn't mention anything about what she learned from Ddraig, if he didn't want her to know what he had done then she would keep it a secret.

During dinner Himejima gave Issei a new cellphone, his was destroyed in the last battle and it was important for them to be able to contact to each other. Issei wasn't very happy about it, particularly because he had to get all the phone numbers lost along with his old phone.

Lancer headed for the bathroom. It was nice that everyone in this age could have a private bath to themselves. Honestly she could live on without taking a bath for a year but the custom of this land required people to take a bath daily so she just followed it. She removed her clothes and found herself in the ceramic bathtub.

"Hah…"

It was comfortable. The warm water washed away all of her worries, in this moment she was in a short bliss. Lancer recalled that in this land people would relax in hotspring and drink wine. If they had a chance she would like to try it. The eastern cuisine was interesting too, at first she was against the idea of wasting her master's resources but it was too difficult to resist the food. Many of those bread and meat were too good to pass.

Lancer sighed. She was a king and a knight, she should have better discipline than that. Lancer stayed for a few more minutes before moving out. When she went to get her clothes she picked the bras and underwear. When she arrived here the first time Himejima had asked her to wear normal clothes. Lancer wasn't really against it but the eastern mage also made her wear these… women only assets. Lancer had never worn them in the past and as a servant she didn't need it but Himejima insisted on wearing them.

 _'I don't need them, just give me the clothes and I will be fine.'_

 _'Yes you do. I don't know who you are in the past but you have to wear these in this age, especially when yours are that big.'_

 _'Big? What big? My muscles?'_

Lancer remembered that Himejima rolled her eyes and just forced her to wear the bras and this triangle soft silky white piece. She wasn't used to wearing them but them came with no harm either so she just went along with it.

On the way back to her room she encountered Himejima who was heading to the bathroom.

"Oh Lancer, I see you have taken a bath but hm… Did you use shampoo and shower gel?" Himejima asked.

"You meant those colorful bottles? No, why? In my age you just need to bath with water. It's unnecessary for me to use them." Lancer replied, she didn't want to use those when she had no idea what they would do.

"You are right… Well just remember to take care of your body." Himejima then went straight to the bathroom.

Lancer mentally shrugged and continued to walk back to her room. 10 minutes later her master returned. It appeared that he just took a bath too.

'That smell on his body… Could it be from the shampoo and shower gel Himejima mentioned?'

Nonetheless it wasn't important to her so she asked Issei to sit down for a talk.

"Issei, do you have any plan for tomorrow?"

"Hm not really. I'd like to retrieve my bicycle from the warehouse, really hope it didn't get smashed last night. Other than that I want to train but can you teach me in your current state?"

"My wound poses no problem to our training. What we should concern is how to deal with the rest of the hostile servants."

Issei nodded. "I agree. We have some rooms to breathe since Berserker is dead though."

"Right now Assassin and Rider are on our priority to eliminate. It will be hard to track them down due to what happened last night. Caster shouldn't be a problem if I and Saber both assault her at the same time. We still don't know who is Archer and what he is capable of. Himejima simply didn't give us enough information on that."

"Right." Issei frowned. "About Rider do you think they will give out free food for the homeless this Sunday?"

"It's best if they do that so we can confront them which could give us clues to find out Assassin's hideout." Lancer agreed with her master. "I think Archer might give us more troubles, do you remember what Himejima said about him?"

"They work from the shadow and will aid us when the time comes… Something like that."

"Correct. The way she talked about it makes Archer seems less of an ally but someone belongs to another party. She is hiding something but isn't willing to tell us." Lancer explained.

"Yeah but I don't think she lied to about Archer either."

Issei's words made sense. Lancer decided that they would need to investigate about this to figure out who was Archer and what's his role in this war.

"... Lancer." Issei said. "I have decided that I… Lancer, please tell me your wish."

"Master?" Lancer raised her eyebrows at that.

"Not the one that you told me before. I want to know what is the wish that you will make when you have the grail."

It was not normal for him to ask her that. From the start his objective was to survive this war, yet the way he asked it was as if he wanted to win this war.

"My wish… I want to return to the past to rule Camelot once again."

It was the only wish she had. It was the duty that King Arthur had to carry beyond death. Lancer had to return to the past to correct her mistakes to make sure that her kingdom would survive. An impossible wish that couldn't be achieved by anything but a miracle.

"Then I will make that wish come true. This is my, Issei Hyodo, promise to you, King Arthur Pendragon. We will win this war together."

* * *

 **AN: It is no Fate Grand Order, it is Fate Grinding Order. Sorry for the late chapter, hope you guys enjoy it.**

 **If you guys question why Artoria seems to be more ruthless than usual I want to portray her as a king who had to make hard choices in many circumstances. The Artoria in FSN makes me feel like she was less of a king and more of a warrior who wanted to do good who happened to be a ruler. This Artoria here is a bit more mature and understands that she will have to kill and prepare to betray others for the sake of her nation.**

 **Onto the plot with this much revelation no doubt you guys can guess the rest of the masters and servants.**


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

Chap 9

The light tap of the rain woke Issei up in the early morning. He glanced at it and found out it was 5 o'clock. Outside the sky was still dark, the only sound he could hear was the rain. Issei turned his head to Lancer and saw that she was still sleeping peacefully her chest moved only a little when she breathed. They had been together almost a week yet Issei's heart still skipped a beat when he saw her this close. For a second Issei wanted to just stay in his room to look at this beautiful goddess but he knew he had more important things to do.

[Your body has slowly adapted to the new changes. It should be fine to engage in heavy activities now.] The dragon spoke to him through telepathy.

'I see. Thank you for reminding me that Ddraig.'

"Good morning Lancer." Issei lightly whispered.

"Good morning Issei." She answered him instantly. Now Issei truly believed Lancer never actually slept, or maybe she was so good she could hear everything and respond to them even when she slept.

"Master, for what reason you are up this early?"

"I need to train my body." Issei quickly made his bed. "I'm still too weak to support you in battle and I doubt in this state I could fight any Master who knows how to fight."

It was true. Before in their fight against Berserker and his Master there was nothing he could do. The reason why he wasn't killed by that psycho was Lancer protected him all the time, even after she was heavily wounded. If Issei wanted to earn the grail he could not afford to hide in his hole. He needed to fight to win this war.

Lancer accompanied Issei to the training room which was quickly cleaned after a few minutes. With the newfound strength in his body Issei did more than a hundred pushups and situps with ease. Lancer was mildly surprised by what he could do but she didn't trouble him with questions. After his warm up Issei turned to Lancer.

"Okay Lancer, let's begin the training."

Lancer nodded. She came to the stand to pick up two wooden swords and gave Issei one.

"Alright Issei, first I need to know what you are capable of. It is impossible to teach you advanced techniques with such short time but at the very least you will understand how to survive a battle after our training."

Issei gripped the wooden sword hard. He carefully observed Lancer's stance. His experience with Saber told him that he should never underestimate ancient heroes in the past even if they were training. Even the weakest servant is better than him in both experience and power. Lancer would hold back her power yet she wouldn't hold back on her skills. Currently Lancer was holding the sword in both hands, the tip of the sword was raised a little over her head. Lancer was taller than Issei so in this stance she could easily chop down on him.

Issei moved straight to Lancer. He couldn't see any weak point in her at all so the only thing he could do was to rush in to do the largest damage. He aimed for her neck, if he moved his sword to the left side of her sword then she would have to hit him from the right, Issei would just have to look out for that to dodge the attack in time. However before his sword could come close to Lancer he was hit from the left shoulder. The attack was so strong Issei lost his momentum and slided on the floor, his sword barely touched Lancer's leg.

"A direct attack like that would result in defeat. Issei you are not experience enough to avoid a counter and not fast enough to surprise your opponent." Lancer calmly said. She didn't wait until Issei recovered to assault him with a barrage of slash, stab and bash. Her attacks were complex but they were more simple than what Saber had shown him. If Saber's attacks were similar to a rainstorm Lancer's was akin to a tsunami. They were fast and heavy, Issei could barely block or dodge them when Lancer kept hitting him. Still Issei didn't give up, even when Lancer's wooden sword hit his body multiple times he tried to block or dodge what he could and return the attacks which were easily parry by Lancer.

Two hours later Issei had several bruises on his body, his grasp on the wooden sword was weak, his legs were shaking and he was breathing heavily. The floor was drenched in his sweat. In contrast Lancer looked like she was just enjoying a walk in a park. Not a single wrinkle could be seen on her white shirt and her breathe never changed after two hours of sparring.

"Let's stop here Issei." Lancer lowered down her sword. "You should be taking a short break to recover." She came to take his wooden sword then put them back on the rack.

"Thanks Lancer." Issei inhaled a large amount of air, trying to cool down his body. He sat down and leaned on the wall to rest his body. A minute later Lancer returned with some water for him. He thanked Lancer and received the cup.

"So..." Issei gulped down the cool water. "How am I?"

"I'm sorry to say but you have no talent for the sword." Lancer said in a concerned tone. "You might get killed if you try to fight someone with a sword in this state."

"It's true huh." Saber also said the same thing. Issei had no talent for the sword, it would take him a long time to be able to master the sword but the war would be long over before that.

Issei sighed. Was there any other option for him? He recalled that the guy Freed had a gun. Indeed gun is a great weapon for anyone in the modern age. It is easy to use and fast to learn. A gunner fights at long range so it will be easier to avoid or hide from the attacks of the enemies. It is not hard to carry a handgun with its size compares to a sword. However it is hard to acquire firearm in Japan, not to mention since guns require ammo Issei would need to be careful with how many shots he could use in a fight. Firearm training also means he would need more ammo before he could land a good hit on the target. A normal gun is probably useless against a prepared mage too, he recalled the now dead mage who could defend himself against Freed's gun with little trouble. If Issei had no skill in melee combat even if with a gun that mage could rush in to kill him. Other masters likely would have protection against modern firearm too, they were in a supernatural war after all.

Then again having a gun was better than having nothing at all. It was just like Lancer said, even if he somehow managed to master swordsmanship his mundane sword could barely hurt other masters. A magical sword would be nice… except he had none. An item like that wouldn't fall in his hands like a JRPG game conveniently.

"Hah…" He let out another sigh. Could he ask Himejima for a magical katana? She should have one… At least that's what he thought. Issei however doubted she would give him one or Lancer would allow him to get one from Himejima. After the day they beat Berserker Issei could feel that Lancer was becoming more distant toward Himejima. He had a few theories but he didn't want to openly ask her so he just ignored them. Issei knew he was weak so it's important that he should rely on Himejima until he was strong enough.

'But at this pace I will only become stronger after the war.'

Issei glanced at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was about 7:30. Breakfast should be done shortly. Issei stood up then went to change his clothes. When he was done he went to the dining room with Lancer. Inside the food had been brought to the table. Saber was humming an old tone that he didn't recognize.

"Good morning Saber."

"Good morning you two."

Lancer silently nodded her head to Saber. By the time Himejima came out from the kitchen with the rice cooker the rain was over. Everyone thanked for the food then digged in.

"Hyodo, do you have any plan for today?" Himejima asked.

"Ah I want to go to the warehouse to retrieve my bicycle." This was the second time he left his bicycle outside. What an embarrassment.

"I see. Remember to be careful."

Issei continued to have another bowl. "What about you Himejima? Are you going to school today?"

"That would be nice but I'm afraid I have other matters that require my attention. Last night there was another incident in the neighborhood. The culprit was without doubt one of the church's masters. That's why today I need to investigate and see if I can track their traces." Himejima paused for a second. "There was no causality because Archer stopped them right on time. However we can't rely on him to know where to intercept the enemies when they have the first strike advantage."

Another attack from that psycho Freed's group… How many more innocents would be dragged into this bloody war until they were satisfied? Though he didn't expect Archer to be able to prevent the incident. Thanks goodness the people were saved.

"Let me help you Himejima!" Issei loudly said. "We can't let them continue to harm the civilians!"

"That won't be needed. I have requested the aid of Archer's master in this problem. He is a person who is good at detective work. We will prevent them from killing more people to gain more mana. You two should avoid any supernatural problem for now. If we catch Freed and his cohort on the street Saber will make sure to kill them. I can promise you that."

So Himejima had decided to work with Archer's master today. Issei couldn't help but felt curious toward that pair of servant and master. Both he and Lancer hadn't met them. Even though Himejima said that Archer wasn't an enemy Issei also knew what Lancer told him made sense. It was because they did not know who was Archer that they had to be careful with him.

Issei nodded to Himejima's words and finished his breakfast. He helped Himejima wash the dishes and bowls which surprisingly she allowed him to unlike the last time.

"We will be heading out then." Issei quickly went back to his room to take his jacket. He and Lancer began to walk to the warehouse which was quite far from the Himejima's shrine. The ground had many spots due to the morning rain, some small puddles of water were here and there on the path they walked. Issei carefully avoided those, Lancer was in her physical form so it would be bad if he accidentally stepped on the water and dirtied her clothes.

At 8 o'clock in the morning there were a lot of people on the street, mostly students who were going to school along. Fortunately they were from a different school so none of them stopped by Issei to ask him why he didn't go to school today. However a lot of people turned their heads to look at Lancer. It was uncommon to see a blond foreigner in this part of the town, naturally people would take a look when someone like that walked around here.

Issei felt his cheeks heating up a little when there were so many eyes on them even though he knew they were all looking at Lancer. He stealthily glanced at Lancer to see if she was uncomfortable but there was none of that. Lancer held her head high with pride, she didn't return the gaze to anyone but there was no sign of arrogant in the way she looked. The king treated the attention given by the citizens naturally.

Issei sped up his walking speed, he wanted to quickly get to the warehouse then returned home. Lancer kept up with him with no trouble. An hour later they were almost there at their destination. Luckily for him the area around the abandoned warehouse was deserted.

"It should be here…"

Yet there was no warehouse. The entire site was devoid as if nothing had been built in the first place.

"No way…" Issei looked at the vacant land. "My bicycle! It's not here!"

No matter how hard he looked he couldn't see anything resembled his bicycle or the leftover of the abandoned warehouse. Previously the fight against Berserker caused the destruction the warehouse but didn't break the entire thing down. Yet now there was nothing here.

Lancer came to the place where the abandoned warehouse was to take a closer look. "Looks like the site has been cleaned up. There are some traces of magecraft here and there. Either the church or the Mage Association had sent people to clean up the aftermath of the battle the day before yesterday." She turned back to Issei. "Looks like they have disposed everything that could be used as evidence of the battle. It is unfortunate but your bicycle must have been taken away too Issei."

Issei shook his head in disbelief. "What am I gonna do now? Dad won't forgive me if he finds out I lost the bicycle."

"Is it important to you?" Lancer asked.

"It wasn't the latest model or expensive when he bought it but it was my father's gift to me when I passed the test to Kuoh High." Issei hated himself for losing such an invaluable gift from his father. This wasn't the first time he ruined his father's good intention. "Damn it… I don't have enough to buy a replacement either."

His saving could barely allow him to buy a secondhand bicycle, even if he was to sell his eroge collection it wouldn't be enough.

"Issei, do you happen to know somewhere that you can gamble?"

"Eh?" He unconsciously replied in confusion.

"I ask if you know a place where you can gamble. Do you know gambling?" Lancer asked him again, this time in serious tone.

"Gambling? Well I think I know some places…"

An hour later they were at a racecourse located in a nearby town. Because Issei wasn't an adult and Lancer didn't have an ID they couldn't get into a casino. A horse racing racetrack was the most suitable place for their circumstance.

"You can see which horse to bet on that." Issei pointed at the large chart. They were sitting in the middle of the rows. From here he could barely see the number on the jockeys' shirts but to a servant it wasn't a problem at all. Lancer observed one race to get the idea how it worked. She then looked at the chart thoroughly before turning to Issei.

"Buy me the ticket of the 59." Lancer said.

"Will this really work…" Even if he said so he still followed her decision.

And the horse number 59 did win the race. Issei couldn't believe it even when they announced the result. Lancer didn't seem to worry about that, when the board showed the next selections she told Issei to buy the ticket for the next horse. He simply obeyed her.

He couldn't remember how many races had passed but by the time it was over the people who sat around them had been following Lancer's choices.

"I heard that they have this kind of gambling here, it sure is interesting." She had a smirk on her face as she led Issei out of the dome. "Too easy, they should have put up more tricks if they wanted to challenge me." She puffed out her breasts with pride. Naturally Issei's eyes were glued to the vibration of them. He shook his head to calm down himself but the memory had been implanted into his brain.

However when they got to the booth to receive the money Issei and Lancer met an upset man. He was obviously not the one who had been selling tickets to Issei but the manager.

"Would you please show me your ID or passport?" The manager said to Lancer in a bitter voice. He had to be angry that Lancer could make so much money when she won all the bet.

Issei's heart stopped beating for a second. Lancer was a servant summoned from the past, even if she had an ID nobody would believe the name Arthur Pendragon on it. He also didn't take into account that they would need to show the ID to get the money, not that he could make or know where to make a fake ID.

"Is it necessary for me to show you my ID or passport?" Lancer calmly replied. "For what purpose that you need to check it?"

"To make sure that you are an adult. We don't accept underage people in this place."

"Ho? Are you saying that I'm not an adult then?" Lancer questioned him back. "Shouldn't my appearance be enough for you to judge my age?"

"Kuh…" The manager bit his lips.

"That's right! It is rude to ask a lady's age you know!" Issei said, unnoticed of Lancer's stare on him. With no other choice the manager handed over the money that Lancer won to them.

On the train back to Kuoh Town Issei recounted the money. He didn't do it in front of everyone at the racecourse but he knew he should count how much they actually got.

"Thank you Lancer. If it wasn't you I would have no idea what to do." Issei took a large sum of money and gave it to Lancer. It was hers in the first place, he only took enough to buy a new bicycle to replace his old one.

"No you keep it Issei. It is your investment so you should be the one who keeps it. What the servants gain is also what the masters receive. Besides modern currency is unnecessary for servants." She declined his offer.

"That's also true." Servants are summoned to participate in a holy grail war. Food and accommodations are but something 'nice to have' for them. When they first met Lancer needed nothing but the mana from Issei. It was only due to his persistence and her interest in modern food that Lancer started to eat like him. On top of that if Lancer actually wanted a lot of money she could ask the grail for unlimited wealth.

"Issei, there is one more thing that I want to remind you."

"Yes?" He could hear the shift in her tone.

"I am your knight Issei. My duty is to defeat your enemies and protect you as long as our contract remains. You also said that you would join the war to win the grail. Therefore you need to remember that my gender does not matter. A tool has no need for such a trivial thing. Please do not treat me like a woman for the sake of our victory."

Issei wanted to open his mouth to oppose it but he couldn't. He knew Lancer's words were partially true, yet he couldn't help but felt upset over them. However Lancer obviously had more experience than him on top of being the stronger one. Issei couldn't find the heart to object to the person who had been fighting and saving him multiple times. He decided to reluctantly nod his head.

Lancer had a small smile, she tried to change the topic to divert the mood. "Please do not concern yourself with it. This war will be over long before you know. Think of the reward when you get the grail. I can even give you some tips on how to court a lady if you want."

"Eh?" Issei was surprised to hear that.

"It is not unusual for knights to flirt and court the fairest of the ladies. Among my knights Lancelot, Gawain and Tristan always tried to compete to see which one could bed the most beautiful woman. While I didn't particularly care about romantic engagement I had learned a few tricks from them."

Issei decided that this was the one in a hundred chances to learn how to get chicks from an ancient king. He bowed his head to Lancer. "Please teach me professor Lancer!"

"Alright, first you must be handsome. That's how the ladies are attracted to you and choose you instead of others. A glance from a handsome man can charm any young lass."

"I have to be handsome?"

But that is totally impossible! How does one become handsome!? If he was handsome in the first place he would get a girlfriend already.

"Well you are… actually you are quite average. I don't think any of my knights had the same look as yours..." Lancer said in a low voice. "Okay the second thing is that you must be courageous! In order to impress the ladies you must show them that you can brave through the hardest challenges including fighting the strongest giant or a dragon the size of a house!"

"I would die for real if I did something like that!"

Besides no such things existed in this world, or at least in this side of the world. Issei suddenly shuddered to imagine that there were giants and dragons lurking somewhere in Kuoh Town, waiting to be killed by him to impress the beauties.

"Hm… My knights were very strong so those were challenges to them and not suicide missions… But what you said was true. Your swordsmanship won't impress anyone and certainly you will die if you carelessly fight any of those monsters… The third one is you must shove sweet words into their ears. Women are weak when you praise their beauty even though they are not. Words like 'Your eyes are the stars themselves.' or 'Before your voice the song of birds are but a boring tone.' work every time."

"That sounds too cheesy! No women would fall for those lines!"

"You are wrong." Lancer shook her head. "Even if they know those are trite and hollow they still enjoy them, in fact they long to hear those words from men. I had heard that one knight said the same lines over and over again yet the ladies still fell for him."

Issei had a troubled face. What Lancer said had some merits to it yet to him it was difficult. In the first place he had no idea how to sweet-talk women.

"Although… Issei, if you were to praise a lady, what would you say to her?"

"... Your breasts are the best?"

"I thought so." Lancer let out a silent sigh. "Given that you're very blunt it will be tough for you to make up those lines. If saying sweet words is too hard you can definitely rely on the last trick, guaranteed to work in any circumstance. That is you must be rich! If you are rich the ladies will flock to you. You can use money to buy them trinkets made from jewels or rare metals to bring them to your bed." Lancer peeked at the money Issei was holding. "That should be enough right? They don't sell jewels at the price of an ox in this age right?"

"I don't think so… I mean I don't know the price of an ox but I don't think jewelry is that expensive. What you said is that something pretty common though. Buying presents to woo chicks is." Issei scratched his cheeks.

"Yes, it is common for people to marry into someone with wealth in my age." Lancer said.

"In short if I want to pick up girls I need to be handsome, powerful and rich. Sounds useful."

"Is that sarcasm I'm hearing from you Issei?" Lancer raised her eyebrows. "Those three are the most basic conditions to impress any wench. I had observed my knights and learned that they always worked. No female will refuse you when you have all three. I trust that you will follow them when you want to court someone."

"Thank you for your wise wisdom oh ancient king." Issei also wanted to ask her how many girls Lancer had succeeded in using these three tips but then he remembered how king Arthur died so he shut his mouth fast. He also sincerely doubted they could help him win her heart.

Lancer had a disapproving glare at Issei but said nothing.

The train took them back to Kuoh Town a little pass noon. Usually Issei would have lunch at this time in school. However he would be absent from school for days so picking food at the canteen wasn't an option. Issei believed Lancer wanted to try more types of food at the school but for now let's eat something else.

"Lancer, do you want to try steak?" Issei gave her a can of tea bought from the nearby vending machine.

"It's a dish which the chef puts large piece of cooked meat on a hot pan right? It certainly sounds interesting but Issei, don't you need to buy a new bicycle? Or you are planning to buy it in this town?" Lancer took a sip at her can.

"Then let's go. Ah about the bicycle I will go to the mall to buy one tomorrow. Taking such a large amount of money to the mall would be bad." Issei too took a sip.

If the salesman found out he had a lot of money on his body he might pull out a trick or two to make him spend more. Issei wanted to avoid that.

The steak house was 20 minutes on foot from the train station. It is a popular place for both students and adults. The price is reasonable and the quality of the food is good. Issei believed it was in the top 10 of the best restaurants in Kuoh Town.

"I have come to this place a few times with my friends." Issei led Lancer to a table for two. As expected a number of people were drawn to Lancer when she stepped into the restaurant. She didn't care about the stare of the people but didn't give out an arrogant air either. Her body language was graceful, even when she just looked at the menu.

Issei on the other hand had to face the full cold glare of almost everyone. He was pretty sure that they were badmouthing him with their murmurs. It couldn't be helped when he was sitting on the same table as someone as beautiful as Lancer. He tried to ignore them by looking intensively at the menu.

"I'd like number 12." Lancer pointed at the image on the menu. "As for how it should be cooked I will pick 'Rare'."

It was the largest one among the steak. Issei wasn't really surprised when Lancer wanted to eat that one. When they were waiting for their meal Issei asked Lancer.

"Earlier in the racecourse, how did you do that? Did you observe the body of the horses to know which one would win the race?"

Issei still found it hard to believe she could win multiple bets just like that. He could only come up with the conclusion which was because Lancer had taken care of the horse in her past she could determine the strength, speed and stamina of the horse. From analyzing the strong and weak points she predicted which horse would win the race.

"It was true that I had observed the horses before making my decision but it wasn't the most important factor." Lancer sagely said.

"Then it was?"

"Instinct."

"Instinct?" Issei repeated in confusion.

"Yes, Instinct." Lancer replied in serious tone. "Instinct is the most powerful skill Issei."

"I see…" So it was her 6th sense. Issei recalled servants had a stat called 'Luck' which could also be a factor in how the world revolved around what they did. What Lancer did earlier was a combination of Instinct and her Luck which allowed her to win multiple bets in a row. That wasn't something a normal human could possess. Issei thought he could learn a trick or two from her but looked like the method wasn't for someone like him.

The dishes were brought to their table 5 minutes later. It seemed that Lancer was given a priority by the manager of the restaurant. If it had been Issei he would have done the same thing to impress this foreign customer too.

Lancer used the knife and fork to cut and eat the meat naturally. She was a westerner these tablewares should be more familiar to her.

"How is it?"

"Delicious. Even in the rare feast in my castle food with this quality was extremely rare. It is truly great that I have a chance to taste the achievement of the modern age." Lancer said happily. Her hands moved in rapid movement to cut the meat and bring the piece to her mouth. She finished hers faster than Issei's. By the time he had 1/3 of his steak left Lancer had ordered the second one which he didn't mind. They were pretty loaded after what Lancer did. Issei was glad that she could enjoy this life, especially when once her wish became true Lancer would be thrown into a chaotic world.

When they were about to leave the manager asked if they could take a photo of Lancer, in return they would give her a special coupon so she could come here to eat for free in a month. It was essentially a way to promote their restaurant.

"I see. When will we take the photo?"

"Ah we will just take the photo with this lady here." The manager said in a way so Issei wouldn't be included. That was expected. After all if a pervert is on their ad the reputation of the restaurant will drop.

"Then I will have to decline your offer." Lancer said, she quickly walked out of the restaurant with Issei behind who had an apologetic expression.

"You don't like to take a photo with them Lancer?" He asked timidly.

"I don't like it when they give my master unjust treatment when he is the one who pays for the meal." She answered in a straight voice. "My image is not something they can buy without respect for my master."

"... Thanks, Lancer." Issei muttered so she wouldn't hear him.

They headed straight to the Himejima shrine. When Issei knocked on the door he was greeted by Saber. It looked like Saber and Himejima had returned before them.

Issei took a 10 minutes rest then went to the training room with Lancer.

"Let's begin." Even though Issei said that he didn't know what kind of training Lancer would give him. He had accepted the fact that he had no talent for the sword so it might be better to train in something else. However before Lancer said anything the door was slided. The two of them were greeted by Saber.

"I have come to help you train! Yesterday wasn't good because you slept all day long but today should be fine." Saber said cheerfully.

Lancer narrowed her eyes when Saber just came in casually like that.

"We have no need for your input in my master's training." She flatly declined Saber's offer.

"Oh ho." Saber faked a surprised voice. "So you are planning to train him. You, a westerner, plan to teach a person from the east in your style."

"Yes, even if my master is terrible I can teach him how to fight. Your presence here is unnecessary." Lancer boldly said. "If you question my skill then I will have you know that my swordsmanship is second to none."

Saber chuckled. "You who summoned as a Lancer claim that your skills are better than mine, a proper Saber? Please stop joking before you embarrass your master more."

But Lancer wasn't joking. Between the two servants a killing aura could be seen by an amateur like Issei. Both of them really had no intention to back down from their points.

"Say Lancer, why don't we have a sparring to see whose skills are better. Why I will even give myself a handicap and just use one of my arms. Otherwise when you lose you will complain that your class is not the most optimal one so you can't do your best."

"Fine by me. Don't cry when you think your flashy eastern swordsmanship is inferior to mine." Lancer coldly replied.

"Please stop you two! Please do not fight!" Issei jumped between them.

"Do not step into this matter master. Let us decide who will be the one to train you through combat." Lancer had already drawn a wooden sword from the rack.

"Please stop Lancer. It is me that you should focus on because I am the one who needs training. Can we at least listen to what Saber said before anything else?" Issei begged.

Lancer looked like she wanted to decline but Issei still blocked her so she calmed down for a second. "Sure. Let us hear what Saber wants to do with you." She lowered down the sword but didn't put it back yet.

"Thank you. Now Saber, what is it that you want to help me?" Issei quickly said.

Saber didn't seem to want to lose a chance to test Lancer but she released her fighting intention. "Alright Issei, first summon your Sacred Gear."

Issei focused his thought on the red gauntlet to make it appear on his left arm.

"Other masters will have a weapon or a type of magecraft that can be used in combat. Compare to a normal person who got dragged into this war you only have this Sacred Gear. Therefore you will focus on how to make it your weapon." Saber did a stance. "Follow my lead."

Issei lowered the center of his body and pulled his arm back next to his belly.

"Hand to hand combat is only useful if you can enter a melee range. I suggest you start working your legs out so you can close in faster." Saber continued. "This gauntlet is very durable, if you are under long range attack use it to protect your face and body. The enemies will find it hard to break the gauntlet to harm you. However since the gauntlet can only cover a part of your body, remember to look out for attacks that can go behind or over your gauntlet. Now do a straight punch."

Issei used his left arm to punch the air like Saber said.

"No, that punch is too weak. When you punch you need to twist your arm. The rotation will increase the speed and power behind your fist. Don't just use your arm muscles but your back and waist muscles too. Here look at me and repeat it."

They continued to train until Issei grasped the basic of straight, jab, bash, hook and uppercut attacks. Saber then had him practise those for the rest of the time. Occasionally she would give him more advices on how to use which attacks in which circumstances. By the time the sky turned dark Issei's body was dripping sweat.

"That's it for today. The next time we will be training for footwork. After we cover those we will be doing mock fights which will help you experience how to use your moves." Saber patted his shoulders. "You did it good today. You might not have a talent for a sword but you sure have a knack for hand to hand combat."

"Thank you Saber." It was Lancer who stood up to come to Saber. "Certainly my master is better at this style of fighting more than swordsmanship. If I offend you before then I'm sorry for my unbefitting actions."

Saber waved her hands. "Don't worry about it. You just wanted to help your master the best you could. If you want to make up for me then pay for a bottle of sake will be the best." She sighed. "My master doesn't have any liquor and she doesn't give me enough to buy them either."

"Sake is a Japanese rice wine right? If it's possible I'd like to try it." Lancer also showed interest in sake. Since they had money now that shouldn't be a problem.

"Saber, I'm curious. You guys worked with Archer in the morning right? How was he?" Issei asked, he tried to return his breath to normal.

"Archer is hm, his long bow is definitely something you see from the west. He was good at tracking, stuffs like trails left behind were quickly discovered by him." Saber pondered. "Though we couldn't even see his face under the shadow of his hood. However that guy for sure is not someone who is good at a direct fight. I have a feeling that he is more of a hunter and assassin than a real archer."

Now that was interesting. The difference between a hunter and an archer could help them determine the real identity of Archer.

"Well his master is not a bad guy so you guys shouldn't worry about it too much. To be honest I'm more interested in you." Saber turned to Lancer. "Servants who claim that they are both good at spear and sword are rare. To test my skills against a sword master of the west is one of my dream. Lancer when the time comes I want to clash my swords against yours."

"Me too. It will be an honor to fight you Saber." She had a proud smile on her face.

Saber laughed. "My master will be angry if we fight when we are allies. Your wounds also prevent you from fighting at your best so that will be boring. Let's do it when our enemies are defeated." She then quickly left the room.

Issei sat down on the floor to rest for a short time. It didn't hurt him but the training sure was exhausting. Lancer went to get him a cup of water.

"So Lancer, what do you think of it? Can I make it if I do what Saber said?"

"It's certainly better than fighting with a sword. Originally I only treated your Sacred Gear as a magical artifact to increase your power and not as a practical weapon. Saber did it right when she had you train in hand to hand combat." Lancer agreed with Saber's idea. "However I'm still against her training you as stated before. If she teaches you then your moves will be reported to Himejima, when we fight them you will be put into disadvantage position."

Issei couldn't deny that. Since Lancer was a servant she would always see others as enemies. It was something any servant would do. For sure Saber wouldn't hide what she did for him. Issei guessed that it was Himejima who let Saber train him, otherwise she wouldn't do it.

"Still I want to learn the footwork from her. I will need all the basic technique if I want to survive a fight against other masters."

"Yes, but after that I will be the one to train with you in mock fights. I am not good at teaching but you can trust me on that." Lancer said.

Issei nodded. If Lancer had allowed Saber to teach him he shouldn't overdo it and annoy Lancer. He glanced at the clock and saw that he should have enough time for a bath before dinner.

"Well I gotta take a bath now." He doubted Himejima would permit him to sit in the same room as her when his body is full of sweat. When he was done they headed to the dining room. Issei helped Himejima to bring the food to the table while Saber and Lancer waited for them.

"Thanks for the food."

Dinner was all Japanese food like usual. It looked like Himejima only knew how to cook Japanese dishes, not that Issei wanted to complain.

"How was the day? Did you find anything?" He asked.

"Not really." Himejima shook her head. "All the trace led back to the church so we either storm it now with Saber or wait until Lancer recovers to have a full assault with all of our force. We did however found out several abnormal magic circles around the city. It is the type neither I nor Archer's master familiar with so there's nothing we can do."

"Several abnormal magic circles huh?"

No matter what they did it couldn't be good. That's what Issei believed. Still if Himejima said that she couldn't remove them then there was nothing he could do.

"Our best chance is to defeat Assassin's master before they can activate the magic circles." Issei came to conclusion.

Everyone agreed with him.

"Yes, however I don't think we should rush in. Even though Berserker was killed they still have Assassin and Rider. In a battle one against two should only be considered when you have no choice. That's why we will only attack their base when Lancer is fully recovered." Himejima concluded.

With that said they continued to eat dinner then returned to their rooms. Issei took a short break to digest all the food. In the meantime he tried to do something but ultimately there was little to do. There was no internet, no television, no comic books.

"I got my porn magazines here…"

Yet he didn't dare to read them. Issei didn't want to get caught when he was immersing himself in the porn then failed to notice Lancer when she returned from her bath. It was best not to upset her more. A knight in her age didn't do perverted things right? Lancer was a king and the embodiment of the code of chivalry. Issei doubted she would appreciate it when her partner read porn when she wasn't looking.

"I don't want to do homework either…"

He was taking a break from school but the homework he got before hadn't been done yet. With so many things happened Issei didn't have the time to finish them. Now when he had free time he didn't have the motivation to do homework.

[If you have free time why don't you try to meditate?]

"Meditate?"

[Yes, meditation can let you dive deeper into the Sacred Gear to understand its power more. You can also learn of the potential of your body.] Ddraig explained.

"Yeah…" Issei could understand why meditation was important to him. "Please teach me how to do it."

[First you sit in the lotus style, then you take a deep breath, close your eyes and finally focus on nothing but yourself.]

Issei did as Ddraig said. However it was harder than what he thought. When he closed his eyes the only things he saw was Lancer and her breasts. Issei hadn't had a chance to see her naked so he tried to imagine them: the size, the color of the nipples, the shapes of the areola. Lancer was beautiful so obviously her breasts had to be beautiful too! In his mind Lancer had the best breasts he could think of, yet those were from a hentai he read so they couldn't be compared to the real things. Issei knew the ones in his head were the fake ones, even if he imagined them they would hold no candle to the real breasts of Lancer.

That's why he had to try his best. Issei couldn't stand the fact that he couldn't recreate the breasts of Lancer in his head. His pride as a pervert was on the risk here!

[That's not how you meditate…]

"Master? What are you doing?"

"Guahh!" Issei choked on his breath. "L-Lancer!? Since when did you come back?"

"I just come back from the bath." Lancer slided the door back. "Oh are you meditating? I heard that eastern warriors usually meditate to gain an insight of their arts. Sorry if I disturb you Issei."

"Eh about that, please don't worry about it." Issei tried to hide his embarrassment.

"Right." She sat down face to face against him."If you are not busy then let us talk about something else."

He could hear the shift in her tone so Issei straightened himself to listen to Lancer. Even though Lancer didn't use shampoo she still smelt nice.

"Issei, you said that you would fight to win the grail. Do you have any plan to defeat all of our enemies yet?"

By enemies Lancer had to include Saber, Himejima, Rider and Argento too. No matter what he said she would see them as enemies. It was the nature of a holy grail war after all.

"I don't have a plan yet, however I intend to learn the motivations and objectives of the masters in this war."

Lancer raised her eyebrows. "I expect an apologize for that joke you just said Issei."

"It is not a joke. I want to know the reason why they participate in this war and more importantly, their wishes." Issei said seriously, he had no intention to back down from Lancer when he said it.

"That is insane. There is one and only one reason for anyone to participate in a holy grail war Issei. That is to get a chance to have a wish from the miracle device." Lancer shook her head. "Even if you are to learn their wishes, what can you hope to do to achieve them? What made you think that they will tell you and let you help them? If their wishes could be achieved without the help of the grail, why would they participate in this risky war?"

"That…" He couldn't answer those questions. Issei knew in his heart what Lancer said was the objective truth. If he was to deny them he would be lying to himself.

"That's why you should stop it. What we need to be discussing is how to defeat them." Lancer pressured him.

"Yes we will discuss on how to defeat them but still I want to talk to them. You know there's a saying 'Know your enemies.'?"

"That was from Sun Tzu: 'Know your enemies, know yourself, win hundreds of battles.'" Lancer nodded sagely.

"That's why even though I might not be able to help them achieve their wishes through other means by learning our opponents we can still analyze their thought patterns, what kind of tactics and styles they prefer when they fight and more." Issei explained. "However if I indeed can make their wishes come true without the grail, that would be the best for both of us."

Lancer didn't reply to him immediately. She seemed to be deep in thought. Issei continued to pray that she would agree to his method. He knew it was an unnecessary thing to do, foolish even. From Lancer's view it had to be a waste of time and effort, moreover it was a risky move that could endanger them. There was little to nothing that could be gained when they followed this method.

However that did not mean Issei should not take this path.

"We will do as you said." Lancer finally sighed. "However know that if we can't reach a compromise on both sides we will return to my method."

Her answer showed that she wasn't satisfied but at least she gave him a chance to do what he wanted.

"Thank you very much Lancer, I appreciate it." Issei bowed down his head. At the very least they could decide what to do once they learned the motivations of Argento and Himejima, Issei really hoped it wouldn't come down to a fatal battle between them.

"Good, first let's try to find out what is Himejima's wish."

"We could try to figure it out from Saber, that is if Himejima told her about her wish." Lancer said. "She will be training you for one more day. If we play the right card we can get some intel from her. However don't expect any result from it. Servants are bounded to be loyal to the masters so unless there are things to gain they won't give out information for free."

Issei narrowed his eyes. The way he saw it Saber was an easygoing person. If her swordsmanship was involved she would fiercely defend it but she wasn't someone who held grudge. Issei wondered what he could do to learn of Himejima's wish.

"Hm… Himejima has opened up to you a bit but you still got a long way if you want her to tell you something like that. However I think her wish is something that is related to her family. Issei do you remember what she said yesterday?"

"What do you mean by that?" Issei asked in confusion.

"She told you to visit your parents. There was a tone of regret and jealousy when she said that. If I am correct then her wish is something related to her parents. Perhaps they are no longer here so she wants to see them again. Is that not the most famous reason why people seek the holy grail?"

That is, to resurrect the dead. The most famous legend about the holy grail is always about resurrecting the lover who is killed.

"Make sense to me. But if that is Himejima's wish…"

Then no matter what he could do he would never be able to grant her that wish. Issei also recalled that she had never mentioned anything about her parents nor he had seen them once when they were at school. It wouldn't be hard to convince him that Himejima was the last one of her family.

"Well that is just my assumption. We don't know the truth until we hear it from her or Saber."

"Yeah, you are right. Let's try to bring up the topic of family when we meet Saber the next time. Next will be Argento. I think we should have an easier time to try to learn her wish."

"She is a nun. It shouldn't surprise anyone when she decides that she needs to find the holy grail in order to please her god." Lancer said nonchalantly. "A mission to recover one of the holy items for the church that will greatly prove her faith."

Issei had to agree to Lancer on that. He remembered that Argento sounded rather desperate when he asked her why she participated in this war.

"To bring the grail back to the church, that is not something we can do for her."

"Yes. However she is not strong, or at least has not showed any combat capability. I think it's possible for her to give up the grail once Rider is defeated. We can chase her out of this town when it's over." Lancer told him her intention.

That was harsh but Issei guessed they had not other option. Other masters might not be so merciful that they would allow Argento to stay alive after her servant was defeated. If Argento was out of the town and ran away they wouldn't have the time to chase after to finish her when the war wasn't over yet.

"Let's talk to her again if we meet her this Sunday. Now who's next… Hm you know let's skip Assassin's master and Freed. I don't feel like talking to them would result in anything useful."

"I'm glad you know that." Lancer nodded. "We will kill both of them when the time comes."

"Right. So we should talk to Caster and Archer's master. We know Caster's place but I have no idea what to do with Archer and his master." Issei wondered.

"Those two are the last pieces of the picture. Right now the only one who knows how to contact them is Himejima but she's keeping it close to her. I don't think she has any intention to let us meet them by ourselves. Archer stopped Assassin's master from gathering more mana and worked with Himejima so it's safe to assume that they are on our side, at least for now. For the time being let's focus on other masters first."

Issei agreed with her. "Okay, then tomorrow we will meet Caster. See if we can do something about her."

"Yes, if they act hostile to us I can finish them off." Lancer said confidently. "Thanks to you I have become as powerful as I can be. You have my gratitude master."

"I just do what I can for you Lancer. Please do not thank me for that. Besides I should be the one who thanks you. I wouldn't have survived that night if you had not stood to defend me." Issei quickly said.

Lancer didn't say anything afterward so it was a bit awkward for him. Issei cleared his throat and stood up. "I will head to the training room now. Saber's lesson is useful so I should practice it more when I got free time."

"Let me accompany you Issei."

"Yeah but you know, can you stay outside of the room?" Issei scratched his cheeks.

"Is it a problem if I watch you train?" Lancer asked.

"No it's not! I mean, I want to train alone to have an easier time to focus."

"I see. If my presence disturbs your training then I will be on standby outside of the room. Call me if you need anything."

"Thank you Lancer." That was tough. Issei really wanted to impress Lancer when he trained, if he made a mistake she would point it out too but tonight's training was different from the morning.

When they arrived at the training room Lancer sat outside while Issei headed inside.

'Alright Ddraig, it's time to test Boosted Gear.' Issei summoned his gauntlet.

[Before even 1 Boost could drain you out but right now the changes in your body has allowed you to use Boosted Gear much better. It also allows Lancer to be able to fight at her full strength.]

Issei mentally nodded. Before Lancer's stats were not good and she couldn't use her noble phantasm properly without the support of a command spell. However after that night she had become a different person, all of her stats were better and without doubt she could summon her horse anytime. Her noble phantasm should be operated at full power too. It was all thanked to the mana inside his body.

Issei had no reason to fear that Lancer could be defeated once her wounds were healed.

'Right now how many Boost can I take?'

[Around 2 or 3. More and your body will start to take strains. However if you keep it at 2 or 3 you can fight without getting exhausted quickly, the power might be lower but you can fight a long battle. If you use 4-5 Boost your power will jump to a new height but you will likely become tired out more afterward. In a battle that will be your fatal weakness, if the enemies learn it they will strike after your power runs out so be careful.]

'There is also an issue with the 10 seconds interval.'

Each Boost requires 10 seconds to be available. Even an idiot will understand it if he sees it in action once. There was no way they would let Issei powerup in leisure.

'The best thing I can do is to hide until I have enough Boost…'

[Hm, with your strength that will be too difficult. Moreover people have been training for years when they participate in this war. Both that psycho master and that mage could handle themselves in a fight. You who has not once trained your body for combat will not be able to compete against a strong thug, much less than combatants with weapons and magecraft. It is unthinkable that you can defeat them even when you have Boosted Gear.]

Ddraig was right. Issei who lived a normal life couldn't survive a fight against those who practiced swordsmanship and studied magecraft.

'That is why I have to cheat.'

[Correct. Life is unfair, that's why if you want to win you have to cheat. There is a technique that you can use when you wait for Boost. It is called Mana Burst. You see how Lancer could move quick and strike hard? She uses that skill to achieve that.]

'Really? Then please teach me Mana Burst Ddraig!'

[Originally I developed Boost from Mana Burst since it can only enhance power. Nonetheless it will be helpful for you in this state. First you must learn how to move the mana to the places where you will use it, your legs or arms' muscles for example. Next you will pull the mental trigger to turn the mana into explosive energy. In that instant you will be able to do what your body usually cannot. It will take some time to learn this skill but it shouldn't be too hard for you.]

'With this I will have more options in a battle. It also should enhance my attack power with Boosted Gear too.'

[However similar to Boost there will be strains on your body if use Mana Burst too much. Remember to use it in the right time. I recommend you to do it to close the gap between Boost interval. In case your enemies are too powerful just run until Lancer kill them or save you.]

Issei knew that was the best tactic but he hated it when he had to put more burdens on Lancer. When they fight servants will fight against servants and masters against masters. If it was possible Issei wanted to beat the master so Lancer could focus on the servant.

That was why he had to train with all he got. For the sake of Lancer Issei would gladly turn his body into a weapon.

"Yosh, let's begin the training!"

* * *

 **1\. Servant: Lancer**

 **True name: Arthur Pendragon**

 **Master: Issei Hyodo**

 **Strength: B**

 **Endurance: A**

 **Agility: A**

 **Mana: A**

 **Luck: B**

 **NP: Rhongomyniad-The Lance that shines to the End of the World**

 **2\. Servant: Saber**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Akeno Himejima**

 **Strength: B**

 **Endurance: B**

 **Agility: B**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: C**

 **NP: ?**

 **3\. Servant: Berserker**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Freed**

 **Strength: B++**

 **Endurance: B++**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: D++**

 **Luck: C++**

 **NP: Spinning Axe (?)**

 **4\. Servant: Assassin**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: Iron Maiden (?)**

 **5\. Servant: Rider**

 **True name: Saint George**

 **Master: Asia Argento**

 **Strength: D**

 **Endurance: A+**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: A+**

 **NP: Ascalon-The Blessed sword by which Force is slain**

 **Bayard-The Phantom War Horse**

 **6\. Servant: Caster**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Kitsune? Nekomata?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: ?**

 **7\. Servant: Archer**

 **True Name: ?**

 **Master: Akeno Himejima's Ally?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: Long Bow (?)**

* * *

 **AN: Again I had to grind so I couldn't spend time to write so sorry for the late chapter. At least I got my 5th Joint Recital so that's good. I really hope I can get Artoria Lancer in the upcoming gacha.**

 **To answer the question this grail war will happen in roughly two weeks.**


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

 **Chap 10**

The hot sun ray of the midday woke up the black cat in her shelter on the hill. She stretched her body lazily. Last night she had to stay awakened until dawn so it was no surprise that she only woke up now. Still the black cat didn't complain once. She quickly grabbed some canned food to eat then headed to the room located deep inside the hill.

Inside the room there were multiple complex formations, they were all connected to the leylines of this hill. This was the best way to gather a huge amount of mana. The thought of killing this town's population to gather mana didn't enter her mind because it would take too much time, she also didn't want to get others' attention on her. Hence why she chose to build her base on this hill.

In the middle of the room was a person in blue kimono. However it was wrong to treat this beautiful woman as a human. On her head there was a pair of orange fox ears and behind there was a fox tail too. This being here obviously is a youkai, a monster in the legend of the eastern countries. Currently the blue fox was sitting in the lotus position, her eyes closed and on each of her palms were a white and black ball of energy.

In front of the blue fox was a petite person who was floating in the air inside a sphere. The black cat looked at her with love and regret. Even though she had stepped into this room for minutes she didn't say anything, she didn't sit down either. The black cat just stood in one place and stayed quiet to observe the other two people in the room.

"Ah master? Sorry I didn't notice you." The blue fox opened her eyes.

"Please don't worry about it Caster." The black cat said in a low voice as if she had feared that she would have woken up the one in the sphere. "How is she?"

"The process is working nicely. If we keep up this pace it will be done in next week." Caster said cheerfully even though she was focusing on the sphere.

"Shirone…" The black cat muttered.

That was the name of her little sister. The elder sister Kuroka and the little sister Shirone weren't human but Nekomata, a cat type youkai. Their parents died a long time ago and Kuroka had been taking care of her little sister since then. Youkai can learn the mystic art of senjutsu or youjutsu but both Kuroka and Shirone aren't normal youkai so they can learn both in a faster time.

The elder sister Kuroka was a prodigy in that regard, she figured the art by herself and could do things people her age couldn't. Usually to learn senjutsu or youjutsu it is necessary to find and learn from a master. However because of that specialty many people wanted the sisters for themselves. Kuroka had to fight to protect herself and her sister as well as work to provide food and shelter for them. The sisters had to constantly move from place to place.

'There is no place for us in this world.' Kuroka said in frustration. From their birth they had received no love from their parents and now they had to always run for the sake of their lives. 'Gods must hate us, that's why we are treated like dirt.'

The tired voice of Kuroka worried her little sister. 'Please don't say that.'

In a fit of angry Kuroka told Shirone off, she said that Shirone was weak and didn't know how to protect herself so Kuroka had to take all the burden. What Kuroka didn't know was that sentence deeply hurt Shirone. For the sake of her elder sister Shirone secretly tried to learn senjutsu and youjutsu by herself so she wouldn't become a burden for Kuroka.

But Shirone was not a prodigy like her sister. The art of youjutsu and senjutsu is a double edged sword. By the time Kuroka found out Shirone was one step from total insanity. If she didn't stop all of her senses right on time to force Shirone into a state of coma she would have lost all of her reasoning and become a monster who lived in pure hatred.

Ever since then Kuroka had traveled everywhere to find a cure for her little sister but there was none. She even tried to seek the greater youkai but none answered her help. Kuroka herself understood the art but she didn't have a clue on how to fix her little sister. Yet she didn't give up hope. One night she caught the news that in Kuoh Town there would be a holy grail war. Kuroka quickly moved to that town with a broken piece of mirror that she stole from a certain temple in Kyoto. That night under the moonlight she managed to summon the legendary youkai.

'Please, save my sister!' She begged the beautiful figure in kimono before her.

'Yes, I will do everything I can to help you.' The servant who answered to her call, Caster, reassured her.

Caster is great at both senjutsu and youjutsu. However because Shirone had been in a coma for more than a year it wasn't easy to cure her back to normal. That's why Caster needed a huge amount of mana and time. Both were not easy to get. Still Kuroka had managed to secure a relatively safe place for three of them on top of the best leyline available. She had played the neutral card to have other servants fight themselves to buy more time. She sincerely hoped Caster could cure Shirone before anyone made a move on her.

In the beginning her object was not to win the grail. Kuroka might have the general knowledge but this holy grail war was too unfamiliar for her. It was too risky, too dangerous for her sister's safety. She couldn't leave Shirone alone and had no plan to summon any other servant but Caster. As long as her sister was cured Kuroka would happily run away from this town. If it was possible she would try to bring Caster with her.

"It looks like the church side is making a move." Kuroka said.

"How about the shrine side?" Caster asked.

From the start of this holy grail war had two major sides: The ones from the church and the ones who lived in the shrine.

The church side had more people, their servants were Berserker, Rider and Assassin. They were more brutal, given that they didn't hesitate to kill people to gather mana and employ the agents of Vatican to cover up their crime this was without doubt a dangerous group.

The shrine side only had Saber in the beginning but later Lancer joined them. It was until yesterday that Kuroka found out Archer was with them too. Even though the masters were younger and one of them basically was a commoner this group was far more benevolent, at least toward civilians. Kuroka wouldn't treat them as harmless though.

Before Kuroka considered the church side the stronger group. In a war the strength of your force is important but so is how far will you go for your objective. Moral has little use in a war, to cast it away is to gain more power for your side. However Berserker was killed so right now with three servants against two the shrine side had become the stronger one. Still if those youngsters had no will to dirty their hands they wouldn't be able to beat the church side, not without sacrifice.

"They intercepted the church force to deny them the resources but looks like they couldn't remove whatever the church had planted." Kuroka recalled the memories she saw through her familiars. "I'm not familiar with those western formations either. It's possible to lock them down with senjutsu but I will have to monitor them constantly. It's not worth our time."

Caster nodded. "Let's focus on curing the distortion of the yin yang ki inside Shirone then."

Caster had once explained the problem of Shirone to Kuroka. She said that because Shirone tried to learn senjutsu and youjutsu at the same time without fortifying her mental strength first she was consumed by the malicious intent of the world. This malicious thought entered her mind to turn on her bloodlust, it would give her more strength to kill and inflict pain on others but at the same time she could think of nothing else but to follow it. Fortunately Kuroka managed to stop Shirone before her mind could be damaged more. Shirone wasn't in the perfect condition but at least she would be stable for the time. The rest would be up to Caster to redirect and slowly drive the invasive malicious thought out of her body.

"Yes, thank you for helping Caster." Kuroka said from the bottom of her heart. Without Caster's help Shirone would have died.

"It is my duty to help my master." Caster said cheerfully. "Although sitting in one place is boring. I want to take care of you too master."

Kuroka chuckled. She slightly bowed to Caster then returned to her room. After she had summoned Caster and set up multiple barriers to protect their base Kuroka had sent out her familiars to monitor the town. To observe the entire town wasn't possible but she had rough idea of where the masters of the two sides were. Her familiars were tasked to watch their movements as well as any abnormal event in the town. It was thanked to them that she could gain the information and plan her next move.

They could not fight against any servant. That was the condition she had to accept when she summoned Caster for the sake of Shirone. Caster is more powerful than modern mages but as a servant there were limits on her. In a direct confrontation Caster won't be able to defeat Saber, Archer or Lancer due to their magic resistance. Rider also has magic resistance and Berserker is enhanced to become stronger so they are tough enemies too. The only one that Caster can defeat likely is Assassin yet Kuroka never saw him once. Not to mention Assassin is very dangerous with how he can summon those metal coffin things.

Against other masters however Caster should have no problems.

If Kuroka had to rank Saber and Lancer were the strongest servants in this war. Saber was obviously a Japanese swordmaster with her attire and usage of katana. Since servants can receive more power if they are summoned in their homeland Saber without doubt will be more powerful when she fights in Japan. The second one is Lancer. She was relatively close to Saber in term of stats and in the fight against Berserker in the warehouse her noble phantasm overwhelmed Berserker's. It was a shame that Kuroka didn't know more about western myth and legend so she couldn't figure out what was Lancer's noble phantasm to learn her true name. Lancer too had somehow managed to survive the fatal wound by Rider in their fight so she had to watch out for that too.

Rider was strong but not as strong as Saber or Lancer, his master is a liability in a fight. The nun from the church couldn't fight at all. She could heal Rider but outside of that she couldn't provide any critical support or fight against other masters. Assassin and Archer were still a mystery so Kuroka left it at that. Even though her familiar had seen Archer with Saber it couldn't see his face at all. If she was to order her familiar to get a closer look she might be found out by them and lose her familiar.

Kuroka let out a sigh. It would be nice if the other servants and masters kept themselves busy but that was the most ideal situation for her. Her promise to join one side was a farce, anytime they decided they wanted to remove her they would do so and there was nothing she could do to fight back. Caster needed to concentrate on Shirone all the time until she was cured. In an emergency Caster could come out to fight but that's the circumstance Kuroka wanted to avoid the most to prevent any side effect that could happen when Shirone wasn't completely cured yet.

"At least I have managed to gain a better insight into the art when I observed Caster." She mumbled. It was a great fortunate to be able to study senjutsu and youjutsu under Caster. Even though Caster had to focus entirely on Shirone just by watching Kuroka had learned a few things from her. She could improve her art a lot, she would definitely teach Shirone properly too.

"Huh?" She sensed a trigger in her barrier. "Someone is here." Kuroka quickly switched to the familiar which was watching the outside of her base. Through the eyes of the familiar she saw a pair of servant and master. They were casually climbing the hill. It didn't look like they were here for a fight.

But that didn't mean they were here for a walk either.

Kuroka sent out two clones to intercept. With the art of youjutsu she could conjure a clone to have it act as her doppelganger. Similarly Caster could do the same. By combining their art they made two clones which had their real power hidden to trick others. This was the reason why none of the masters nor servants could see through which one was the real Caster. Their stats were hidden too. Although Kuroka doubted Saber or Lancer needed to figure out how high Caster's stats were to deal with her. Still if they didn't know which one was Caster Kuroka could use that chance to escape with Shirone.

Caster was good enough to be able to see and take control of the clone even if she had to manipulate the ki inside Shirone so that wasn't a problem. The two clones arrived before Lancer and her master.

"Good afternoon." Kuroka greeted them.

"If you're looking for tea and snacks then sorry, we don't have a tea house here." Caster mocked.

The fingers of Lancer twitched. For a second Kuroka feared that Lancer would instantly summon her lance to kill both of the clones but her master was the one who opened his mouth.

"We are not here to fight you, we are here to talk." He said it sincerely.

"Talk? What do you want to talk with us?" Caster raised her eyebrows. She didn't show hesitation even when Lancer was before them.

"I'd like to, you know, get to know you."

Kuroka was taken back by that. Could this be a plot from him? From the start she knew this boy was but a normal person who somehow managed to summon Lancer and entered this war. The past few days showed that he knew no magecraft nor martial arts. He was not cut out for this holy grail war. However the one who was talking to her had changed. Even from here she could feel a large amount of mana from him which was not possible.

What sort of trick had he done to gain such a large amount of mana? Could it be that was his red gauntlet?

"Are you insane?" Caster snickered. "What made you think that we will talk to you? Are you even aware of what you're doing?"

The boy had a difficult expression on his face. He should know that too. The relationship between Kuroka and him was different from that shrine maiden. She also said that she would only join one side when the other one had been crippled. The nature of the holy grail war is to kill your competitors, to talk to them is to find their habits, lifestyle, weaknesses and goals. No way a master will just reveal those details to others.

His servant didn't say anything but Kuroka could guess what she thought. She should have a tough time with such an insensible master who had no idea how to fight in a war. After all he was just a highschooler, not a mage or a warrior.

"I will give you 1 minute, tell me your intention when you come here." Still Kuroka decided to humble him. Before Lancer didn't have the same parameters as Saber but now she was better in some aspects. It should be better to listen to what he wanted to say first. Besides if Caster was to hurt his pride too much his servant could use this chance to eliminate them right here.

Even a fool can kill with a sharp knife.

"Alright alright, I know this sounds unreasonable but listen. I understand that people want to participate in this war for a wish from the grail. What I want to know is if I can do anything to help you achieve your wish…"

"Ahahahahahaha…!" Caster laughed out loud. "Ridiculous! Simply ridiculous! You really have no idea what you are talking!"

"... If it's possible I'd like to end this war without unnecessary bloodshed." He finished in embarrassment. His servant stood still next to him, no reaction could be seen on her face.

But Kuroka was taken back by it. There was no way the boy wouldn't understand that people fought in this war because their wish was impossible to achieve through other means yet he still wanted to help others? However something told her that this boy had somehow learned that Kuroka didn't fight for the grail but to summon Caster to cure her sister.

'No that can't be true. I have made sure no one saw me and Shirone when I entered this town. Moreover he has no way to spy on us. Even that shrine maiden couldn't entered the barrier I set up with ease.'

But she couldn't discard the idea easily. Kuroka decided that she had to do it carefully. She would never reveal the truth to them but she wouldn't force him to prioritize her either. Kuroka secretly asked Caster to stop laughing.

"You said that you wanted to help us to achieve our wish through other means. That is a grand claim. Do you honest think you can boast such a thing when you hold that naive ideal?"

The boy stayed silent. This had to be the answer he expected.

"Still, if you think that you are strong and can overcome any obstacle. Prove it to me." Kuroka continued.

"Prove it? How?"

"The grail belongs to the strongest. If you can defeat every other pair of master and servant then we will withdraw from this war. That way you don't have to kill us." She finished.

"What made you think that we wouldn't be backstabbed by you after we finished our last battle?" Lancer coldly asked.

"Naturally Caster cannot hope to oppose the victor of all battles. You of the Lancer class knows that your magic resistance skill is a great advantage against us. Our only hope to defeat you is to fight you in this territory. If we ever leave this place our combat strength will be dramatically reduced." Kuroka explained. "That's why we cannot make a move carelessly at all. It's also the reason why we only join one side when the other one has been crippled. After all we can't be very helpful if we have to stay in one place."

"I see. In other word you don't want to fight us but don't want to move out to fight others either. You would rather stay in one place and wait until all of the servants is defeated." Lancer replied in a flat tone.

"Correct." Kuroka said with sweat on her back. Her best option was to divert the attention of others, if she was to get ganged up on she would have no chance to survive. Both the shrine and the church side could kill her if they wanted to. "Is that not the best option for a pacifist? People normally don't want to get into troubles with someone who is obviously stronger than them do they?"

"I see. Thanks for talking to us. We will be leaving now." The boy bowed his head to the clones, his servant also did the same thing but only slightly.

After they left Kuroka left out a relaxed breath.

"That was close master. For a second I thought Lancer would flip out and rush us." Caster sighed. "Lancer surprisingly obeyed that brat's words. If I was her I would have been in charge instead of him."

"But you could actually beat her in your workshop, couldn't you?"

"Mikon! After all I am the most beautiful and powerful servant! No one will be able to defeat me when my master is in danger!" Caster declared.

Kuroka couldn't feel safer when Caster said that. Caster went back to focus on Shirone while Kuroka recalled the two clones. They should have no other guests now. In fact if they had any other one those wouldn't come to talk like Lancer and her master.

However that didn't mean she could let her guard down. Lancer's master might not be dangerous but Lancer herself was a great threat. She was very beautiful, yet her beauty was of the cold steel. The same steel that would not hesitate to cut down her and Caster.

Kuroka understood even though the boy said that it did not mean he would keep his promise, or could keep it when his ally was more dangerous. He was unsuitable for this war, his actions would harm himself and his servant. If he was someone who could keep his words she could trust him to hold out until the shrine side defeated the church side. After all that it would be a free for all.

She could only hope Shirone would be cured before that happened.

* * *

Akeno Himejima wasn't satisfied with the current situation, but she had no intention to change it. Currently she was sitting inside her room which had the most powerful barrier within this shrine. It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Akeno just finished her daily meditation as a part of her shrine maiden training.

"Heh." Akeno chuckled at that thought. Even though she was from the prestigious Himejima, one of the most influence families in Japan Akeno had never actually received proper instructions from them. All she got was half baked training that she had to correct through trials and errors. She hated it but she got no choice, that was what she had to do if she wanted to become stronger.

"Just a little more… then it will be over."

That was what Akeno believed. However it wouldn't be that easy, the war itself wasn't easy and the reward that they promised her wasn't within her grasp either.

The Himejima is one of the most powerful families in Japan but under the pretty surface they are just a bunch of greedy old men. When they heard of the grail they wanted it for themselves to further their schemes to rule Japan from shadow.

'You will be the one who is tasked to participate in this holy grail war. Bring the grail back to us and you will receive the thing you want the most.' Said the Himejima. Akeno then was given a relic as the catalyst to summon Saber who without doubt was one of the strongest Japanese swordmaster. She could win this war with the might of Saber and her art.

That was what she imagined. Akeno made a fatal mistake to assume that Saber could deal with the servants while she could fight the masters. On that day she was almost killed by Assassin, if Hyodo wasn't there she would have died for real. Even though that cockroach had a loathsome motive behind his actions he did save her so she had to thank him for that.

Akeno hated men. She hated them a lot. They were a bunch of good for nothing creatures. Men only lust after women's bodies and abandon them after they are done. Hyodo was no different from them. He was creepy with how he acted around females. Akeno recalled how that pervert tried to get close to her with a flimsy excuse. On the outside he looked like an idiot but Akeno wouldn't trust it that he didn't lust after her body.

Yet she knew better not to stir conflict with every man she met. Akeno reluctantly accepted the fact that she needed to had professional relationships with them. With what Hyodo had done he deserved that position. She did not hate him like back before the war started, but his image didn't improve in her eyes that much. Now she was being indifferent to him. Once the war was over they would no longer see each other anyway so there was no point in treating him differently.

"Speaking of which, I wonder how's the training going…"

Saber told her that she would train Hyodo on how to fight. Since they were allies that wasn't a bad idea. Akeno understood that even if he was trained under Saber and Lancer Hyodo was still no match for someone like her. He had too little time to train his Sacred Gear too. Akeno didn't really understand Sacred Gear, her knowledge on them was limited but thanked to her works she knew people could do a few tricks with them. They were allies for now but when the hostile servants were eliminated they would turn against themselves. What they said before was nothing but baseless words. Once the time came Lancer and Hyodo would fight, his actions recently showed that he had a change in his mind, Hyodo had officially joined the war now.

Akeno knew that Hyodo was no threat to her, what she had to look out was his servant Lancer.

The real identity of Lancer is a female knight who happens to be a daughter of king Arthur Pendragon, that was what she assumed. That night her familiar had caught the name of Lancer's noble phantasm. That is the name of the same lance belongs to the famous king of England. It is a lance with huge destructive power. Even when faced against Berserker's noble phantasm it overwhelmed his and destroyed the mad servant of that psycho Freed. Akeno believed if Hyodo wasn't such a terrible master Lancer could have killed Freed on that night.

The true name of Lancer was less important than the abilities of her noble phantasm in her opinion. King Arthur didn't have any notable daughter, there was no official record so even if they tried to figure out the name likely they wouldn't find out any weakness. Akeno had discussed with Saber on how to deal with the lance and their conclusion was that they should not allow Lancer to use her noble phantasm in the first place. In an emergency case Akeno could kill Hyodo first before Lancer could activate her noble phantasm.

Still it wasn't something Akeno wanted to do. Saber was fine with the idea yet she couldn't really want to kill Hyodo. At worst she would chop off his arm to remove the command spells then knock him out. After all Hyodo had not done anything to deserve death unlike the others who chose to participate willingly. If she looked at it in another way he was a victim who got dragged into this bloody war, his parents shouldn't lose a son because of such a stupid reason.

Akeno shook her head. If Lancer was not a knight type servant she could probably convince her to become hers. Normally a mage cannot provide enough mana for two servants to fight properly. The amount of mana will be split and their strength will be reduced. However Akeno wasn't a normal shrine maiden.

A ball of lightning appeared inside Akeno's palms.

"Even if I have to use this cursed power… I will do it for you mother." She swore.

Akeno began to train her lightning power in the next few hours. She hadn't used this power for a long time so it wasn't easy. She could have done a lot more if she hadn't had to stay in her room to train. Akeno would like to skip school to have more time to train but at the same time she didn't want to draw too much attention from the students and teachers either. She could mindwipe them but that would be the last thing she should do.

By the end of her training Akeno became better with her lightning power. It wouldn't be very effective against servants but she could use it to fight other masters.

Saber had not returned meant Hyodo's training wasn't completed yet. In the meantime Akeno decided to check on her familiars.

Akeno had plenty of familiars, most of them were little oni, a small type of youkai. They helped her watch and spy others in order to gather intel. However inside this shrine she didn't order any familiar to observe Hyodo and Lancer. The purpose of this was to give them a sense of freedom. Akeno understood if she was to watch them constantly they wouldn't place trust in her much and in certain circumstances they would outright betray her before every other servant was killed. Even an idiot like Hyodo would be pissed if he found out he had been under watched in his room.

Outside the shrine however, was a different game. Akeno knew today Hyodo and Lancer had gone to visit Caster. Thanked to her familiars she knew that they didn't go there to sell her out but to do something very stupid. The idea had to belong to Hyodo since Akeno believed Lancer would never propose it in the first place.

"But I can use it for myself." She murmured.

Recently she hadn't received letters from her mother. Ever since the day they were separated Akeno never stopped writing letters to her mom. There was no reason for her mother to stop sending her letters back. Akeno wanted to visit her mother to see if she was okay but she knew the Himejima wouldn't allow her to return to their headquarter unless she brought the grail back for them. She also knew Archer's master, the hound of the Himejima, was watching her from the shadow.

The Himejima had two masters in this war. The first one was her and the second one was sent to watch her, since Akeno was a master she would have a servant under her command. The Himejima wanted to make sure that Akeno wouldn't use her servant to fight them hence why they sent the second master who summoned Archer. In time of need Akeno could ask him for help but she didn't want to rely on Archer too much. She didn't know the true name of Archer but she knew Archer wasn't summoned to fight other servants, he was summoned to observe and if Akeno was considered a threat Archer would assassinate her.

If she made any suspicious move her actions would be reported to the Himejima. Akeno didn't believe she could bribe Archer's master, it seemed that he was a loyal man to the Himejima. If he wasn't he could have worked with her to win the grail for themselves. A grail that can grant any wish is more than any fortune anyone can have.

That was where Hyodo came in. If what she heard from his conversation with Caster was true she knew he would act by himself once he learned of her circumstance. Akeno knew if she just came to him to ask for a favor he would help her but his servant wouldn't. Lancer was more competent than her master, she would be suspicious toward Akeno's request. What she needed to do was to have Saber ask Hyodo for help, that way it would make it look like Saber asked for help behind her back.

Since Hyodo was the one who decided what to do the Himejima couldn't blame her. The alliance between her and Hyodo was temporary, Akeno had no duty to stop Hyodo outside of the war. At most the Himejima would try to eliminate Lancer when they came to their headquarter which would be difficult. With how strong Lancer was now she should have no trouble to escape along with Hyodo as long as she didn't drag the fight out.

The plan was risky. The Himejima is not a family of old time losers. They have their craft, their soldiers are trained and the family head can call upon greater power for battle. Still Akeno believed they wouldn't go that far just to confront her or Lancer. Those resources could better go elsewhere.

Hyodo would be the little pawn in her scheme. With how he acted he would definitely want to save her mother too. Akeno stopped to ponder. Should she have him rescue her mother from the Himejima headquarter?

"No, they wouldn't kill mother even if Hyodo failed to save her."

The reward for Akeno was the freedom of her and her mother. If she could bring the grail back they would be free from the Himejima. They were confident that she wouldn't use the grail to instantly take her mother back because Archer and his master would immediately report to them if she ever touched the grail. In their plan Archer's master would be the one who brought the grail back, Akeno would just follow him.

If they were to kill her mother first then there was no reason to send her here as a master.

Akeno nodded to herself. Yes she could do this. If Hyodo could save her mother he could have the grail for himself and Lancer. It would benefit them both and she wouldn't have an unnecessary fight against him.

Once they saved her mother she would withdraw from this war immediately. Saber would stay behind to assist Hyodo and Lancer while she escaped to Korea with her mother. She would need to kill Archer first to ease their burden, that shouldn't be a problem since Saber and Lancer could gang up on him.

Akeno breathed in deeply. "No need to count the eggs before the chickens." She told herself.

She needed to distract Archer and his master, if they were suspicious of Hyodo they could report it back to the Himejima. A map of the Himejima headquarter was also required. Hyodo would visit his parents on weekend so she needed to change the date. Monday was the best option for them.

Akeno felt indifferent when she was about to use Hyodo. Since he was the one who thought he could be the hero she would let him do so.

"Lancer is the one who does the heavy job anyway."

It was almost time to prepare dinner. Himejima changed her shrine maiden clothes to a set of casual one. When she was on her way to the kitchen she saw Saber.

"Oh master, I just finished the training with Hyodo."

Akeno nodded. "How was he?"

"That guy is useless on sword but he is quite good on hand to hand combat. If he continues to train for a month more he can fight other masters with his Sacred Gear."

Originally Hyodo was just a normal highschool student. He was weak, when he had free time he played video games and such. Akeno had never seen him go to the gym or play sports a lot. He couldn't fight any master even with his Sacred Gear. On that night when Lancer fought Berserker then Rider she should have been killed. Akeno had knowledge on healing but she wasn't good enough to save Lancer. Hyodo had done something to save Lancer, likely it was a power from his Sacred Gear. Akeno had no idea what it was but thanked to that Lancer survived on and became stronger. Hyodo too changed. If what Saber said was true then he wouldn't be that helpless like before.

"I see. There's something I need you to do."

Himejima then explained her plan.

"Hm… Alright, but isn't it better if we both kill Archer and his master first then go to save your mother together?"

"No, that would be too risky. If they find out Archer was killed by us my mother's life would be in danger."

"Fine, I will do it as you said."

"Thank you Saber. I will begin to cook dinner now."

However when she came to the kitchen she found out that there wasn't enough ingredient. She called Saber over to go to the supermarket.

"Himejima? Where are you guys going?" Hyodo asked, he just finished his bath.

"We are going to the supermarket to buy ingredients. Dinner will be later than usual." Akeno answered.

"I see. Let's go to the supermarket together then. I will carry the stuffs." Hyodo said.

At first Aken considered to decline his offer but she thought it again. Perhaps it would better to act nice to him so he would work harder when he went on his mission to help her later. Akeno nodded to Hyodo.

The four of them went to the supermarket. Akeno didn't have much time so she focused on buying food. In 30 minutes she already put the rice, pork, chicken, eggs, fish and vegetable in the cart which was pushed by Hyodo. Saber however, wanted to buy wine which she rejected.

"Please master. Just two! Two bottles of sake! I have not tasted them when I was summoned!" Saber begged.

"No means no, I only bring enough to buy the food for us."

The truth was that Akeno had to save the money for her and her mother afterward. Any luxury had to be postponed until then.

"Don't worry, I will pay for it." Hyodo said. She had no idea where he got the money but if he was the one who paid it should be fine. Lancer too was interested in wine, both of them went around to pick up several bottles of wine and even some cases of beer.

Dinner was more lively since Lancer and Saber started to drink afterward. Akeno excused herself, she knew Hyodo would clean up the dishes later for her. Saber too could use this drinking party as an excuse to talk about her circumstance. What happened afterward would be up to Hyodo.

"He might not be too bad…" But she quickly discarded that thought. A single man's actions will not change her view on the rest of them.

Akeno went out and called Archer's master to distract them, it would be bad if Archer overheard what Saber said to Hyodo and Lancer tonight.

"Just a little more mother..."

* * *

 **AN: Thanks for 10k view! Thankfully there's barely anything to do in the game so I could have more time write. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Issei doesn't need all the training montage so I skip it.**


	11. Chapter 11

I don't own HSDxD and gain no profit from this writing.

 **Chap 11**

Another dream from my dear master.

Assassin said with an uninteresting tone. She didn't dislike her master. In contrast her master had proved to be very useful. Assassin had been enjoying the benefits of being a servant under her master. It was a sad thing they didn't have the same interest. Perhaps that was because Assassin was a noble and her master was not, even if she liked to pretend she was one. That and they didn't talk much to each other. Every time they talked it would be related to work. Assassin had already understood her master's plan so the only thing left to do was wait until the last phase of the plan came.

Currently Assassin was in an unfamiliar room. The walls were all white ice, even the floor was frozen. There was nothing but coffins made of white ice inside the room. Among the people in the room Assassin could see her master. Her appearance was the same but since her master wasn't a human it was tough to gauge her true age. The people in the room were talking about something but Assassin couldn't recognize the language. It was strange for a servant not to know such thing, for knowledge was implanted in their minds when they were summoned. However they weren't human so Assassin could understand why she couldn't understand their words.

The people dressed in a style that was older than Assassin's slowly moved out of the room, only her master remained. She silently watched the coffin made of ice then moved out quickly.

A handsome man could be seen inside the ice block. He was tall, his hair was black but he had a yellow streak on the front. Assassin didn't know if he was dead or not but in this state he looked like he was simply sleeping. On his back however multiple pairs of jet black wings could be seen. They were all burned, only a few feathers remained and bones were shown.

Who was this man? A lover of her master? Assassin raised a question yet she didn't really intend to find out. Still she had no doubt her master's wish had to be related to this man. The grail could grant any wish after all, it was not impossible to revive the dead.

Oh my master, how romantic of you.

Assassin woke up from her dream. She took that back for the dream wasn't boring. Still Assassin had no intention to learn who was that man nor why her master was in the room. She became a servant because she desired a wish, not because she wanted to serve or help the one who summoned her. Assassin pressed the button on the electronic device called 'smartphone' which was given to her when she was summoned. A minute later a person came to knock on her room.

"Come in." She said in her haughty voice.

The person walked in her room with a basin of water and a towel. Assassin gracefully washed her face then wiped it. When she was done she had the human go away along with the basin and the towel. Since Assassin was a heroic spirit she didn't need to wash her face or take a bath but her lifestyle back when she was alive was of a noble so she had to go through it properly. This place obviously had a bathroom for the residents but Assassin had no intention to use the same place as the commoners, hence she would have people bring a basin of water to her room so she could wash her face.

5 minutes later breakfast was brought to her room. Today she had soup and tea. The servants had to wait outside the room until Assassin finished her breakfast to come in to collect the tableware.

Even so, that didn't satisfy her completely. Assassin wouldn't be herself if she didn't live a life of a noble. However she accepted this unfitting living conditions. Her master had promised that they wouldn't fight for more than a month, being tolerant was also a trait of nobles so Assassin could go along with it.

Her room was the best and most beautiful of their base. Her master had made sure that Assassin could get the best of what she could afford. Now that breakfast was done Assassin came to open her wardrobe, she went through all of her clothes and picked out one of them to dress in. When she was done Assassin looked at her grand mirror. "Perfect." She nodded to herself. Assassin then walked out of the room. On her way there were some unimportant plebeians but they all let her go first. Assassin was allowed to do whatever she wanted as long as she didn't hurt or kill the master of Rider, Rider himself, Freed, the old fat priest, her master and her three 'friends'.

It was a shame that she couldn't take any servants with her since her master wanted to keep her force in secret as much as possible.

It was 10 in the morning. Assassin walked out of the church entrance by herself. She had sunglasses on her face. They were indeed nice accessories that she didn't have back then. Since the church was located a bit far from the street Assassin had to walk for a few minutes. The peasants on the street turned around to look at her whenever she passed by them. Assassin allowed them to look upon her beauty but she never stopped to let them talk to her. Her destination was the local mall. From the knowledge that was implanted in her brain Assassin knew it was a place where people of all classes could buy goods. She wanted to go there herself to see if there was anything that caught her eye.

"This should be better than the market back then." Assassin murmured. There was no need for her to come out, for Assassin could look at the magazines and have the servants go buy them for her but as a proper noble Assassin wanted to go shopping by herself. Any woman will want to see and select the goods herself when it comes to shopping.

Assassin called up a coach which drawn not by horses called 'Taxi'. She stepped inside and ordered the coacher to take her to the local mall. Naturally Assassin didn't want to walk to that place or use the bigger coach, she had no intention to sit in the same coach as the peasants at all.

This coach was a pleasant vehicle. Unlike the wooden coach in her age this metal coach could block the sound from the outside but allowed her to see what's going through the glass. Inside the coach the air was produced and controlled by machines, not too hot or too cold. From what Assassin knew there were even better coaches than this one, one that had a cabinet for wine and bigger space. Assassin decided that she would always travel by this type of coach and never the old one again.

Minutes later they arrived at the mall. Assassin gave the coacher the small card which is made of a modern material called 'Plastic'. From what her master said this card contained a vast amount of money which Assassin could use for whatever she wanted. Such thing was indeed suitable for a noble. To carry a large amount of money within this simple card was the proof that she was a noble and not a peasant who had to put his coins in a bag or a chest then carried it all day long.

The buildings of the future were all tall. From the outside she could see that they were made of stone, glass and metal. Fascinating yet couldn't be compared to a proper castle made of marble and stones. This mall was bigger than a mansion of an average noble but smaller than her castle, from the look of it this mall seemed to have 3 floors and a basement.

Assassin confidently stepped into the large mall. This was her first time but a noble had no fear for such a thing. Not a lot of people were in the mall at this time of the day. Assassin came to look at the map of the mall. A single look and she knew where to go.

First Assassin came to the clothing floor. "Excellent." There was a range of multiple shops for her to choose. A noble like Assassin wouldn't wear the same clothes in the same week, that would be a disgrace to a rich noble.

With a hefty amount of money in her hand Assassin spared no time to look through the latest trend of fashion. She had the staff bring out all kinds of clothes that they had and went through them, only picking what she really liked.

2 hours later Assassin stopped for a second. It wasn't because she had finished shopping nor her card was out of money. Assassin turned her head toward a certain direction even though there was nothing. A servant would recognize what they sensed even if there was a wall to block their view.

"Interesting." Assassin then had the staff pack the goods, she simply sat down and read one of those magazines in the shop. 10 minutes later she put the magazine back on the shelf, picked her clothes and stepped outside the shop.

The other party should have detected her by now but for Assassin it wasn't a time for a fight, it was a time for leisure. Therefore she had no reason to hide or spy on her enemies. Unexpectedly they didn't hide but headed straight toward her. The three of them met others in the 3rd floor of the mall.

Before her were a boy in peasant's clothes and a beautiful young lady who was also in peasant's clothes, betraying her noble appearance. They didn't even need to verify what the other party was with the ample magical energy they got.

"Assassin." The blond lady said in a cold tone.

To that Assassin only snickered. Both the boy and the lady were surprised by her reaction.

"Is this how you greet a noble? I thought a beautiful servant like you was a queen, duchess or at the very least a daughter of a noble who understood manner and etiquette. But perhaps my impression was wrong. If I may guess you were just a peasant soldier who served a lord back when you were alive? That explains why you behave like this."

This wasn't the first time Assassin saw Lancer and her master. Previously she was the one who broke the Iron Maiden to rescue the master of Saber. To have her prey snatch away like that indeed angered Assassin. However that was a story of another time, Assassin felt no need to bring that up right now. She however, had no intention to let Lancer have a comeback.

"Follow me. This is no place for a noble to have a conversation. Worry not for I am being generous and graceful." She then turned to the boy. "Why are you still standing there? You are the only male here, it is your duty to carry the goods for the ladies."

Both Lancer and her master was dumbfounded but Lancer was the one who recovered first.

"My master is not your manservant. Carry those by yourself if you come here alone."

"Ho. Tell me boy, are you a noble? Or a bastard child of a noble?"

"Eh?" The boy was taken aback by that. "No I'm not. My parents are normal people."

"Then order your servant to carry my goods. It is a natural thing for servants to work for the masters. In this case since she is your Servant it is your job to make her act like one."

Lancer tightened her fists. Assassin could feel her killing intent but she had no doubt that Lancer would not start a fight right in the middle of this place. Her master however, acted differently.

"I'll do it."

"Master!?"

The boy took the bags from Assassin. "I'll carry your bags. It is a duty of a man to carry stuff for women right?"

"Of course. See Lancer? Even your master has a better manner than you."

Lancer gritted her teeth but said nothing. She only looked at her master for a second and then she took half of the bags from her master.

"A wise choice. Now let us go, for we have wasted enough time for such a small, trivial problem."

On their way Lancer and her master had a small chat, the people around them also talked and pointed at them but Assassin didn't listen. The conversation of peasants didn't bother her.

The destination was a fancy restaurant. Assassin had the knowledge of this kind of place but she had never stepped into one so she was a little excited. They chose to sit by the window, with Assassin on one side while Lancer and her master was on the opposite side.

"Tell me boy. Is it your first time in this restaurant?"

"Yes, but this is not a restaurant but more like a cafe. They don't really serve main course here."

So there was a difference. Nonetheless it didn't matter much, if Assassin wanted to have lunch she could do it back at the church.

"Order the best dish of this cafe for me." Assassin ordered him.

The boy was taken back by that. Nevertheless he followed her order. While the boy was looking at the menu Lancer kept her eyes on Assassin. For that Assassin only gave Lancer a smirk.

Apparently the best dish of this cafe was the special apple pie. Assassin was the first to taste it. Indeed the snack of the modern age was far more better than anything she had back then. The apple was fresh and the taste was sweet. Lancer and her master didn't order anything, they just had glasses of water that the restaurant gave them for free.

"This is a good pie. You two may order one for yourselves, I will pay for it as a proof of my generosity."

Lancer was the one who replied first. "That is unnecessary. We are not hungry nor need your 'goodwill'."

"Does your servant speak for yourself, boy?"

"Yeah, I'm not hungry." He shook his head.

A straight answer. Looked like Lancer was the one who made the decision. Assassin had predicted that ever since she first met them. This boy was no one special therefore his servant would be the one who decided everything for the war.

But still Assassin was confused. She recalled that her master said this boy had no magical heritage and yet before her was a huge source of mana. Even when he didn't cast any spell Assassin could feel the mana leaking from him. It was due to that Lancer had become more powerful no, she had returned to the state that she should have been when she was summoned.

'This has something to do with his Sacred Gear.' Assassin assumed. She would report this matter to her master. Nonetheless Assassin was confident that she could defeat Lancer even if she was back in the game. More than that she desired the blood of such a beauty. Earlier Assassin said that Lancer was a daughter of a peasant but that shouldn't be the truth. Lancer didn't deny it because if she ever let Assassin know more details her true identity would be deduced. Assassin believed that Lancer was an illegitimate daughter of a noble, a king even, who hid herself among the knights and eventually inherited the lance from her father. A less known heroic spirit who was somehow summoned by this peasant boy.

"Relax you two. Today I am not here for a fight. After Berserker was killed both I and Rider are ordered to lay low. That is why I'm just enjoying myself today." Assassin took another bite from her apple pie. "What are you two doing here? Are you enjoying your day like me? Or you are hunting us?"

The boy shook his head. "No, we are simply shopping. Lancer is still wounded so she isn't in the best condition to fight."

"I see." As expected from Rider's report. Assassin didn't know how Lancer survived that night but she could see why Lancer couldn't fight for now. If Lancer did want to fight Assassin she would have tried to send her master to a safe place first instead of meeting Assassin directly like this. Assassin too had shown herself out in the open so the other party should be confused on whether she wanted to fight or not. Regardless, now they were at the same table, that wasn't a problem anymore.

"Hm… Aha, that's why you are here today. Please forgive my mistake for assuming that you are not a noble Lancer."

Lancer only returned a glare at Assassin's 'apologize'.

"Excuse me?"

"You are here to buy new clothes to replace those you are wearing correct? After all it is any noble's interest in taking care of her appearance. If you don't mind we can go shopping together. I haven't explored all the clothes shops in this mall so there might be something that looks good on me besides those that I have bought. Your low-class peasant clothes really are an eyesore to me. They don't suit your beauty at all. Also a necklace will look nice on you. Gold would go best with your hair but silver is not a bad option either."

"Clothes? Beauty? Jewelry?" Lancer scoffed. "Spare me that nonsense Assassin. Before I am a Servant I am a knight and thus I live to fight. Appearance is all but a fragile cover that is discarded when you enter the battlefield. A pretty dress won't save you when a sword cuts your body. A pretty face won't save you when you find yourself under a rain of arrows. A pretty necklace won't stab the enemy in his neck. The only tool that wins a knight's battle is his steel, might and wit."

"But of course." Lancer faked a sigh. "A noble like you has never been thrown into dangerous situations to understand what I said. Superficial and frivolous things are the only weapon and armor you have. I do hope they will be useful to you when they meet the end of my spear. Otherwise… that would be too lamentable, for both of us."

Assassin was enraged by Lancer's words. But this wasn't the first time she was being looked down on by others. Assassin took a sip of her coffee to calm down the urge to tear apart Lancer's marble like neck and bathe in her blood.

"Do you even know who you are Lancer?" Assassin said.

"Do you?" Replied Lancer.

"I do. I am a noble born from a ruling household. I know my rights and duties. I lived and died as a woman. But you Lancer, you don't even know what you are."

Lancer narrowed her eyes.

"Tell me, what is your gender?"

"My gender holds no importance."

Assassin laughed at Lancer's answer. "A servant who cannot even accept her gender? And you call yourself a knight! What kind of knight that can be entrusted by a liege while she herself living a lie?"

As small as it was Assassin could hear the grit of Lancer's teeth. That was the sound for her victory.

"A knight with dishonesty is but a savage barbarian. You have no honor and your master is but a fool for trusting you. You might call yourself a knight but in the end you are a liar. Words cannot contain my disappointment Lancer."

"Have you not heard my words? How come gender matters in this conversation? I have ridden on the bloody battlefield and slaughtered more foes than you can ever imagine. Not once my enemies nor my comrades questioned my gender."

"You should know that there are things only women can do but that's not the point here. The point is that you lie to yourself and others, here and then. When someone lies once she will keep lying. That alone shows how much loyalty you have for others when you consider yourself-your lie, more important than them. I might not know who you are but for an educated guess I can say that your gender indeed had caused you failure one way or another." Assassin took a sip of her tea. "Because otherwise you would not have to hide your gender in front of your people."

Lancer said nothing, that's the cue for Assassin to continue.

"A woman has a sacred duty: She must be beautiful. It does not matter what she can do, the first and foremost thing she must have is beauty. You might hear tales of female warriors who achieved great deeds but you will also notice that all of them are beautiful, one way or another. An ugly woman has no place in this world. Men will ignore her and women will make a joke of her. To deny the gift that you were born with means that you have failed as a woman."

Assassin waved her hand to call the waiter to pay for the meal.

"You have failed at both being a knight and a woman Lancer. Brute strength is the only gift that you have. I hope it will console you when you roll on the mud of your battlefield."

Assassin left the restaurant, taking her clothes. Lancer and her master said nothing. They simply stayed there until Assassin was out of sight.

Assassin returned to the church by a taxi like the morning. What happened earlier wasn't the best revenge she could have but she was satisfied. Still there was a distance from the place where the taxi dropped her to the church so she had to walk.

Then an arrow came straight for Assassin's neck, she quickly twisted her body to dodge it, resulting the arrow in her left shoulder.

Immediately 10 metal caskets, the Iron Maiden, appeared around Assassin to block more arrows. She bit her lips hard, trying to keep herself together. Assassin quickly pulled out the arrow on her shoulder, noticing that the wound showed a purple color.

'Poison!?'

Servants could heal by using more mana but for poisonous wound it would take a longer time. Already Assassin felt dizzy and pain while trying to heal her wound. Still she was in one piece. If Assassin wasn't fast enough that arrow would have pierced her neck.

'Those arrows… they come from the forest!'

Thanks to her supernatural hearing Assassin could determine that the arrows came from the forest which was nearby the church. The arrows continued to strike the Iron Maiden around her, some even pierce through them. However none of the arrows could reach Assassin.

Then three arrows came from above. Since they couldn't pierce through the Iron Maiden effectively they were shot in an arc to hit Assassin on top. However Assassin was faster, she managed to create another Iron Maiden to block the arrows above her.

A few minutes later the arrows stopped flying. Assassin used that chance to turn into spirit form and rushed for the church.

"Argento! Argento!" She called for the nun.

"Quickly heal me!"

The nun came to Assassin along with Rider. She had a Sacred Gear called Twilight Healing which could heal any physical wound. Healing this way was much faster than relying on the natural healing ability of servants.

"Why didn't you come out to save me Rider?" Assassin angrily said.

"I have to protect my master. If I come out to save you the enemy might use that chance to snipe my master."

Assassin could only grunt at his response. From the beginning Rider only cared about his master and nobody else. He might take order from Assassin's master but besides that he would only protect and escort his master. Assassin knew that she couldn't ask Rider for help but still she complained about it.

"Fine. Next time when you or your master is in trouble don't ask why I don't help you."

"That's fine with me. I don't want your help in the first place."

"The wound is healed miss Assassin."

Without showing her gratefulness Assassin returned to her room. The nun might have healed her but she couldn't remove all of the poison with her Sacred Gear. Assassin decided that she would have the 'usual' to accelerate the removal of the poison in her body.

'Damn that Archer…!' There was no one else could have shot those arrows like that. Archer had to be following her from the town to the church to strike. Assassin too let her guard down after her talk with Lancer.

'That Archer has some sort of Presence Concealment.'

Normally Assassin should have felt the presence of Archer when he started to shoot arrows but she could feel no mana at all. Usually only Assassin class had this skill but Archer could hide his presence so it should be a skill or a noble phantasm.

Assassin decided to report this matter to her master once she was up for it.

* * *

"Are you alright Lancer?"

"I am fine Issei. Please do not worry about me."

Issei and Lancer were taking a walk inside the mall. Since Assassin had left they had no reason to stay in that cafeteria.

Issei gave Lancer another glance. On the surface she looked perfectly calm but he knew she was upset by what Assassin said.

'I gotta do something…'

But what could possibly calm down the king? Issei quickly racked up his brain to see if there was anything he could do to distract Lancer from Assassin's words.

"Say Lancer… We still haven't had lunch right? Why don't we go eat something?"

After living with Lancer for some time Issei learned that she was interested in modern food. This could be a good way to make her happy.

Lancer nodded at Issei's words. A minute to decide what to eat then Issei led Lancer to a sushi restaurant, given that back in her time the British didn't really eat raw fish he thought Lancer would want to try sushi once.

"Here we are."

There were multiple sushi restaurants in this mall but this one was special.

The servant and master settled down on a table for two while one of the waiters gave them a menu.

"What is this Issei?" She pointed at the moving dishes.

"That's the 'Rotation Sushi'. The sushi dishes will be prepared by chiefs from the kitchen and sent to each table through this belt." He explained.

"They appear to be real food. Are they for show so we can order what we want to eat?"

"No you can take any of them. The waiter then will count how many dishes we have on the table to bill them."

Issei then returned to the menu while Lancer began to pick the sushi dishes. Although there was a range of selections on the belt the majority of them were fairly common. He wanted to show Lancer something good and those could only be found in the menu.

'I can order the signature set of sashimi… Although the flavor of the month set is also not bad...'

After a few minutes of carefully examining the menu Issei turned to Lancer. "We can try this one-", and saw that there was a pile of dishes on the table already.

"Hmm… this one is fresh and a bit sweet… Hmm… this one goes very well with this black sauce…"

Like a machine Lancer used her left hand to pick up the dish on the belt, put it on the table, removed the cover and used her right hand which held a pair of chopsticks to immediately eat the sushi. While she was chewing her left hand put the empty dish on an empty spot on the table which had become a pile of dishes and took another dish on the belt again, repeating the whole process.

In the 8 minutes that Issei was checking the menu Lancer had consumed 18 sushi dishes taken from the belt.

"Hmm Issei? Oh I'm sorry I haven't picked any dish for you." She then began to take some on the belt and place them on his side on the table. "Personally I find this one is the most delicious among the current dishes. The one that's on the table is the last of them I believe. You can enjoy it Issei."

"Um actually the chiefs will put more of those on belt if they see that the customers take them a lot. I can pick what dish I want to eat by myself Lancer."

"I see. That means I can help myself with this." She said that and then took back the sushi dish she just gave him which Issei didn't recognize what kind of fish it was.

"That's also fine I guess." Issei could see that Lancer was in a better mood right now. He ordered both the signature set and the flavor of the month set along with two drinks then joined Lancer in their lunch.

"Japanese does have a good cuisine." Lancer said after finishing her last piece of sashimi. Issei was sure that she had eaten all the dishes the restaurant had to offer and the customers around them had been occasionally looking at Lancer.

"Do you want to try some dessert?" He said, checking the bill.

"... Do we have enough money for that? Don't you need to buy a new bicycle?"

"Oh don't worry we-" Issei paid for their lunch. "-have plenty to spend."

Earlier even though Lancer was angry at Assassin's words Issei still noticed that she had a lock on onto that delicious apple pie. The truth is Issei had tasted that pie once and it was heaven. However because it was too expensive for him he didn't have the chance to enjoy it the second time.

'However we shouldn't go back to that cafe yet.'

Issei knew Lancer was still upset at what Assassin said so it should be better to try another place. He could go to this mall and buy an apple pie for Lancer to enjoy it at their home later if she wanted.

They headed for a dessert and tea shop that was quite popular in the mall. Upon entering Lancer was surprised by the display of various triangle shaped cakes inside the showcase. She walked toward it and scanned through rows while Issei looked around the shop to see if there was any vacant seats for them.

"Hm… alright, I guess that table is good. Lancer which one do you want to have?"

Lancer opened her mouth but closed it immediately. She seemed to be in trouble.

"You can pick any of them." Issei said.

"... Just one of them?" Lancer asked with a bit of sadness in her voice.

"Yeah well you can take two." But Lancer didn't answer him. "Three is fine too." Yet again Lancer didn't answer him, she only gave him a hopeful stare. "... Four? Five? Argh well just buy as many as you want. I will have one piece of strawberry cheesecake."

And then Lancer ordered every colorful piece of cake, much to the surprise of the waitress. The two of them became the head of attention as the waiter brought over 20 pieces of cake to their table. Lancer enjoyed each of them while Issei timidly had a spoon of his cheesecake. Originally he planned to talk to her about Assassin but when Lancer was in such a good mood he couldn't do it at all. However seeing Lancer being this happy Issei was satisfied too. Her smile was so beautiful that it was engraved in his mind.

It was five in the afternoon before they knew it.

Issei was pedaling on his somewhat new bicycle which had a similar look to his old one with Lancer sitting behind, who was awkwardly avoiding his face.

Turned out they almost overspent their fund with their little gourmet tour in the mall. It was by luck that Issei managed to get his replacement for the bicycle with the money that they had left.

"My apologize Issei. I should have hold back myself. Such actions were embarrassing both you and me." Lancer awkwardly said.

"Please don't apologize Lancer. That money was yours in the first place anyway. Besides we did get a bicycle so everything's good."

They continued to ride back home on the bicycle until Issei stopped at a convenience store on the road to buy drinks. When he came out of the store he saw that Lancer was looking at a bookstore which was located opposite to them.

"Can we go take a look Issei?"

"Sure why not."

He didn't know that Lancer was interested in books. Together they went into the bookstore. The old man who was the owner greeted them with interest. It wasn't common for a foreigner to visit his bookstore.

"Welcome welcome! How can I help you?" The owner said with joy.

"I would like to know if there is any book about agriculture and history." Lancer answered.

The owner then guided her to the section where those books were while Issei wondered why Lancer wanted to buy such books. Lancer picked up some books and examined them. Since this wasn't a bookstore that Issei was familiar with he also went through some sections to see if there was anything interesting but ultimately he didn't find one. Lancer on the other hand chose two thick as dictionary books.

'That's the last of our money.' Issei thought as he paid for them.

"Let's go home Issei." Lancer said, holding the books in her arms.

"I didn't know that you are interested in those." Issei said, pedaling on his bicycle.

"I want to find out if there is anything I can do to improve the food, housing, metallurgy and trading when I return to the past. Future knowledge can be useful, although I do believe I can only use some of them as the overall technology in age won't allow me to enjoy the products of your age."

"I see."

She said that she would redo her life to save her kingdom after all. Certainly having knowledge from the future would help a lot.

It wasn't long until they reached home. Before Issei opened the door he had told Lancer of what they should do when she officially met his parents.

"I'm home. Mom, dad."

"Welcome home Issei. Oh, is that…?"

"This is miss Lancer. She's a foreigner who is taking a visit at Himejima residence." Issei introduced.

"Good afternoon Mr and Mrs Hyodo. My name is Lancer. Nice to meet you."

His parents were shocked to see a beautiful westerner in their house. But they quickly recovered and welcomed Lancer into the living room.

"Miss Lancer is a penpal of Himejima. She is interested in Japanese culture and so she is taking a trip to learn about it. I met her at Himejima's place. That's why she asked me if I could take her home so she could see how a common Japanese family lives." Issei continued his lie.

"Of course of course. That would be no problem at all. Ah excuse me miss Lancer but has our son done any stupid thing that embarrassed himself and you? If so then I must apologize."

"Please do not worry about that. Your son has been very helpful to me." Lancer calmly answered.

And so while his father chatted with Lancer in the living room Issei came to the kitchen with his mother.

"Mom let me help you with dinner." He said nervously.

"We have a guest tonight, a foreigner at that! You should go back and let me handle dinner." But his mother quickly shoo'ed him away. However Issei stubbornly tried to stay in the kitchen.

"Oh I see, perhaps you want to impress miss Lancer?" His mother teased.

Issei could feel his face burn up. He tried to deny it by staying silent and just helping out with what he could.

"Really, Issei. I told you to bring your senior home yet you bring a foreigner instead! Big sister has been your type after all so that shouldn't surprise me. Looks like we don't have to worry about the end of our bloodline anymore."

"Please stop talking mom, that is too embarrassing for me!"

"Oh my, maybe I should think about naming my grandchildren. You know there are names that are both western and Japanese like Mari or Yuri but hm… there might be a problem if you have a son. I will need to discuss this with your father later on."

His face became redder and redder but Issei knew his mother wasn't stop talking so he pretended he didn't hear anything and focused on the cooking.

The Hyodo along with their guest had fried shrimp that night. Mrs Hyodo had intentionally told everyone that Issei was the one who made that dish, even though he only did what his mother told him to. Issei couldn't look at Lancer's smile when she praised his dish at all. Nevertheless dinner was enjoyable for the Hyodo and their guest.

"Are you still a college student miss Lancer?" Mr Hyodo asked.

"No, currently I'm an instructor of swordsmanship."

"Oh just like a kendo teacher in Japan! I see, I see. You must be very strong miss Lancer."

Both Issei and Lancer had no idea if there was such a job in western countries but it was enough to fool his parents.

"How long do you plan to stay in Japan?"

"Currently I plan to stay for a month but that might change in the future."

"Do you have a boyfriend yet? Someone as beautiful as you obviously must have a boyfriend." Mrs Hyodo teased.

"Mom!"

"I do not have a boyfriend. I also don't think I should enter a romantic relationship until I finish my duty."

"Oh, so you are the type that focuses on your career first. Do you hear that Issei?"

Issei had an awkward laugh. If only his parents knew who Lancer actually was.

After dinner Lancer said goodbye to the family but she simply switched back to her spirit form and returned to Issei's room.

"I feel bad for her not to have a bath before bed."

Issei murmured while washing his body. If Lancer stayed at his house as a guest then she could take a bath. However Lancer had no reason to stay at the Hyodo house, rather it would be more suspicious if a foreigner asked to stay at a local home when they met for the first time. Both Issei and Lancer had decided that she would tell Issei's parents that she would return to the Himejima shrine instead of staying here.

Issei decided to do something to make up for Lancer later. After taking a bath he returned to his room for a serious discussion. Lancer was waiting for him silently.

"Issei."

"Yeah, let's begin."

"Alright." Lancer nodded her head. "First let us talk about Assassin."

"About that… she is strong. Is Assassin normal that strong? If I am not wrong she is about you or Saber's level."

Lancer shook her head. "Not that I know of. Usually in a normal grail war Assassin would be one of the weaker classes. They cannot compete against other servants physically so their job is to kill other masters. But the Assassin that we met this morning is abnormal."

Originally they had to look out for the iron maidens that Assassin could summon but now they would have to fight her when she was as strong as Lancer or Saber.

"Still I believe I can defeat her in combat." Lancer said confidently.

Issei wanted to ask her how but he remembered that the person that was sitting in front of him was a legendary king. If she said she could do it then she had her reasons to do so.

"From what I learn about Assassin today I can make a conclusion that she is indeed a noble, a sheltered one at that. Without doubt she wasn't a warrior back when she was alive. However do you notice anything about her Issei?"

Issei was surprised when he met Assassin face to face for the first time. She was a beauty indeed. But her beauty was different from Lancer's.

"... Blood?"

"Yes, that woman reeks of blood. It is not strange for warriors or knights to have blood on their weapons or armor but what Assassin showed today is different. I suspect that she enjoys bathing in blood of her victims."

A terrifying conclusion.

"But tell me Issei, if two people who are roughly on par with each other have a fight, which one will come out as the victor?"

"... The one with better weapons and more experience."

"Correct." Lancer nodded to his words. "Assassin may have her iron maidens with the current me when I'm at my best I can crush her without problem."

Issei couldn't find any flaw in Lancer's words. Rather it was natural to think that Lancer could beat Assassin in straight combat.

"But we still need to watch out for her sneak attack. I can kill her but she can also kill you in one hit if we are not careful."

"I see. So we can beat Assassin as long as she doesn't have the first strike."

"Yes, we should try to kill her the next time when she isn't in a populous place."

"Alright, then what's next?" Issei asked.

"About what your agreement with Saber… Issei are you sure you want to do this?"

Last night when they were having dinner Saber asked a favor from them. She told Issei and Lancer that the reason why Himejima participated in this war was because she was forced by the people who had her mother in their hands. So obviously if Issei could rescue Himejima's mother she would forfeit this war. Saber however would continue to fight because she was interested in fighting other servants, not because she had a wish.

When Saber said it Issei jumped at the chance of not having to fight Himejima.

"Yeah, I will do it. If there is something we can do to solve the problem in a more peaceful way then I will take my chance."

Saber had given them a map and told them that on Monday her master would send a letter in a form of a paper familiar to her mother. Issei and Lancer then would chase after that familiar back to the Himejima residence to find out where they held Himejima's mother and rescued her. With a strong servant at his side Issei should have no problem fighting his way out even if they were detected.

"Then we will do as you said."

"Thank you for putting up with me Lancer. I really appreciate it."

However there was one thing that Issei didn't mention. As low as it was there was a possibility that this was an elaborate trap made by Himejima to eliminate them. If the people at the Himejima residence knew they were coming then Issei and Lancer could very well get ambushed. Yet for some reasons Lancer didn't tell him about that. Usually she would object to such a plan and decline it.

'But she didn't… she only asked if I'm sure I want to do this.'

For now Issei would just go with the plan. He hoped that he could save Himejima's mother and let them reunite.

"Next would be Rider and his master, I believe tomorrow which is Sunday they will give out food for the homeless at the river bank. We should go there to see if we can talk to them."

That was his original plan. Lancer had less problem with Rider since he seemed to be an honorable servant.

"Yes, in any case we can make an agreement with Rider to have a fair fight."

They continued to chat about some trivial things until it was 11 o'clock. Their discussion ended there and Issei prepared to sleep. Lancer however pulled out the books she had bought before.

"You are not going to sleep Lancer?"

"Servants don't need to sleep. Since there is nothing to do before I chose to sleep for my mental health. However now that I have these books I will read them while guarding you."

"I think you need to sleep though. A few hours at least?"

"That is not a bad idea. I shall do as you said."

If Lancer said that then Issei had no objection.

"Good night Lancer."

"Good night Issei."

* * *

 **1\. Servant: Lancer**

 **True name: Arthur Pendragon**

 **Master: Issei Hyodo**

 **Strength: B**

 **Endurance: A**

 **Agility: A**

 **Mana: A**

 **Luck: B**

 **NP: Rhongomyniad-The Lance that shines to the End of the World**

 **2\. Servant: Saber**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Akeno Himejima**

 **Strength: B**

 **Endurance: B**

 **Agility: B**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: C**

 **NP: ?**

 **3\. Servant: Berserker**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Freed**

 **Strength: B++**

 **Endurance: B++**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: D++**

 **Luck: C++**

 **NP: Spinning Axe (?)**

 **4\. Servant: Assassin**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: ?**

 **Strength: B+**

 **Endurance: B+**

 **Agility: A+**

 **Mana: A**

 **Luck: D**

 **NP: Iron Maiden (?)**

 **5\. Servant: Rider**

 **True name: Saint George**

 **Master: Asia Argento**

 **Strength: D**

 **Endurance: A+**

 **Agility: C++**

 **Mana: C**

 **Luck: A+**

 **NP: Ascalon-The Blessed sword by which Force is slain**

 **Bayard-The Phantom War Horse**

 **6\. Servant: Caster**

 **True name: ?**

 **Master: Kitsune? Nekomata?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: ?**

 **7\. Servant: Archer**

 **True Name: ?**

 **Master: Akeno Himejima's Ally?**

 **Strength: ?**

 **Endurance: ?**

 **Agility: ?**

 **Mana: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **NP: Long Bow (?)**

* * *

 **AN: I have returned. Damn it is almost a year since the last chapter. I will try to update faster but no promise here. However I do want to finish this story so I will try my best to do that.**


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